The cage-free egg bandwagon just got a bit heavier with the addition of three more grocery chains. Southeastern Grocers, parent company of the Winn-Dixie, BI-LO, and Harvey’s chains, says it’s going to switch to only sourcing eggs from cage-free hens for the company’s private label by 2017, and company-wide by 2025.

The company says it sold tens of millions of eggs from its private label brands. The move will make it one of the first retailers of its size to convert all of its private label eggs to cage-free within a two-year timeframe, Southeastern Grocers says in a statement. Although cage-free eggs comprise less than 5% of the eggs the chains sell, customers are increasingly demanding them, the company says.

“In the past two years alone, we’ve seen an average increase of nearly 30% in the sales of our cage-free eggs. It’s clear this is both a product and cause that’s important to our customers,” said Michael Bove, Group Vice President of Fresh at Southeastern Grocers.

All eggs the company sells will be from cage-free hens by 2025, with Southeastern “totally committed to working closely” with its vendor partners to achieve that goal.

“Sourcing our eggs from cage-free farms is a major step forward in our effort to demonstrate our leadership on animal welfare,” said Bove.

Southeastern Grocers worked with advocacy groups including The Humane League and the Humane Society to develop the initiative.

“Southeastern Grocers’ decision to source exclusively cage-free eggs in its private label brands by 2017 and 100% of its eggs by 2025 is one of the most progressive timelines we have seen from a mainstream grocer,” said David Coman-Hidy, Executive Director for The Humane League. “The Humane League is proud to have worked with Southeastern Grocers on this decision, which will improve the lives of countless hens, and we look forward to working closely with their leadership in the future.”

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