Just over a year ago, only 25% of the world’s biggest restaurant chains had committed to cage-free eggs. Fast-forward to today, and that number has now skyrocketed to 60%. Lever is proud to have played a major role in this progress, pushing 10 of the 14 total commitments. As part of that, in the past year, Lever won a global commitment from Inspire Brands, which owns five of those 25 largest QSR brands: Dunkin Donuts, Baskin Robbins, Sonic, Arby’s and Jimmy Johns. Combined, these chains have almost 9,000 locations outside the U.S. – all of whom now have a cage-free egg policy. Progress is being made – and it’s happening faster than ever before.

Elsewhere in the restaurant sector, Lever helped Pizza Express International, a Hong Kong-based subsidiary of U.K. restaurant group Pizza Express, also commit to ending the use of caged eggs globally. This win, which covers the company’s roughly 100 locations across a dozen countries in Asia, the Middle East and Europe, comes after several years of engagement with Lever.

Lever also persuaded Au Bon Pain to expand its cage-free commitment to cover all locations globally, including its 70 restaurants in Asia, by 2026. Additionally, Lever persuaded well-known Hong Kong entertainment conglomerate Lan Kwai Fong Group to end the sale of caged eggs at its six restaurant locations plus event venues, along with a matching commitment for its hotel brands.

Once implemented, these commitments – along with those secured by Lever in the retail, cafe and hotel sectors – will spare an estimated 2 million animals from intensive cage confinement each year. In the span of a year, an incredible transformation has occurred in the QSR industry, which will improve the lives of laying hens in Asia and beyond. Far from being happy with 60%, Lever will continue to push for food companies to ditch caged eggs until the number of hens spared from inhumane conditions hits 100%.

This work happened because of the support of people like you. Please consider donating today to build a more humane and sustainable protein supply in Asia.