Critical Progress For Chickens Worldwide: 2024 OWA Year in Review

Influential companies committed to phasing out cages from their global supply chains. Chicken welfare for both laying hens and broilers improved at regional and local levels. And OWA members and animal advocates around the world took action after action for OWA global campaigns, sparing an estimated three million hens from life in a cage.

Barren battery cages are an extreme form of animal cruelty. Advocating for an end to these cages is an effective way to safeguard meaningful progress and protections for countless farmed animals. Every commitment from a company to exclusively source cage-free eggs allows more and more suffering hens to finally walk on solid ground, stretch their wings, and engage in their normal behaviors—things that are impossible to do in a tiny cage. And every fulfillment of a cage-free commitment is proof that a world without factory farms is possible—and that people believe animals deserve to be treated with kindness.

In 2024, the OWA acquired an impressive 141 new cage-free egg policies to improve laying hen welfare, and 13 new broiler policies to improve the lives of chickens raised for meat. In 2025, the OWA is determined to keep making change for chickens by working to end some of the factory farming industry’s worst abuses. To kickstart the year with some inspiration, here’s a look at some of the OWA’s greatest accomplishments in 2024.

A year of unstoppable campaigns

Heartless Hospitality

In March of 2024, the OWA launched their global Heartless Hospitality campaign to keep hospitality companies accountable to their commitments to spare hens from horrific abuse. And seventeen days later after launching, they secured victories—against all their targets.

Notable wins included:

• Hilton Hotels & Resorts agreed to report on its cage-free egg percentage by sub-region for its entire global portfolio. It also agreed to release a glidepath—detailed plans for going cage-free—for its managed hotels in the US, UK, Ireland, and Europe.
• Louvre Hotels Group published its global cage-free egg percentage, and publicly stated that it would be reporting regionally for its entire global portfolio.
• Meliá Hotels agreed to report its cage-free egg progress both globally and regionally by each country.

These companies combined use approximately 285 million eggs per year. If they fulfill their cage-free egg commitments, the lives of around 1 million hens will be affected. And as they work towards 100% fulfillment, it’s critical that they keep the public up-to-date on their progress.

Kewpie

The OWA then kicked off their flagship campaign against popular Japanese mayonnaise producer Kewpie Corporation in June of 2024. It was an ambitious campaign against a stubborn target—but as the impact of a Kewpie cage-free egg commitment would be monumental, the OWA pressed onward.

For the campaign, the OWA assembled their first Flagship OWA Campaign Advisory Committee. Members of this committee provided valuable campaign strategy advice, and participated in additional campaign activities such as on-the-ground actions and hosting action parties.

Animal Kingdom Foundation took action against Kewpie in the Philippines. EAST held a protest in Taiwan. Sinergia Animal protested in Indonesia. These tireless global efforts yielded the long-desired result: a more comprehensive cage-free commitment from Kewpie.

The commitment signifies the beginning of a definitive shift away from using eggs from caged hens in Japan. It covers a minimum of 200 million eggs per year (by 2030), which will spare an estimated 700,000 hens per year from cages.

Foul Foods

As the year winded down, the OWA kept up the pressure. For their Foul Foods batch campaign, local and regional pressure was crucial for victory. Many OWA groups collaborated to support campaign actions. Plataforma Alto, Mercy For Animals Latin America, and Sinergia Animal banded together to put local pressure on global food company Colombina.

Notable wins included:

• A few days after the campaign launch, Colombina sent Sinergia Animal its updated global cage-free egg commitment (going 100% cage-free by 2027), and also reported that it was 40% cage-free globally.
• Global restaurant chain Wagamama reinstated its global cage-free egg commitment, and agreed to publish progress for every region by the end of 2024. It also agreed to work with the OWA moving forward, and pushed up its 2030 cage-free commitment for Asia and the Middle East to a quicker 2027 goal.
• OWA group Planet For All was instrumental in the successful negotiations against leading hospitality group Lai Sun Dining. Eventually Lai Sun Dining reinstated its global cage-free commitment, reported that it was 90% globally cage-free, and refreshed its commitment to be globally cage-free by 2026.

The cage-free campaign against Norwegian Cruise Line is still ongoing, and will continue into 2025.

Influential reports and case studies

In 2024, the OWA published key reports and case studies that contributed to their year of victories, and regularly kept stakeholders informed about the steady progress of the global cage-free movement.

These reports and case studies included:

• Fair and Fowl: Global Travel Edition: Five corporate cage-free accountability wins came from this report.
• OWA Cage-Free Fulfillment Report: This report provided a comprehensive look at the current cage-free global fulfillment rate.
• ECC Progress Report: This report examined the progress of the European Chicken Commitment (ECC) across different countries and sectors in Europe.
• Fair and Fowl: Global Companies Report. Nineteen corporate cage-free accountability wins came from this report.

Celebrating progress, region by region

OWA groups around the world made remarkable progress for factory-farmed animals in 2024—globally and regionally.

Notable global accomplishments for egg-laying hens included securing global 100% cage-free commitments from major companies including hotel chain Belmond (which has 47 properties across 28 countries), frozen bakery dough company Europastry (a commitment that is estimated to impact over 1.8 million hens), and H10 Hotels (which has 66 hotels across 23 different destinations). Popular food manufacturer GBFoods—with locations in Africa and Europe–reported 100% cage-free fulfillment.

Africa

In 2024, the cage-free movement boomed in the region—thanks to the leadership and dedication shown by OWA groups in Africa, and their effective negotiations with poultry producers, hotel companies, and food companies. Groups in the region also worked together to begin the important process of company profiling—analyzing over 50 companies across countries, and categorizing them based on their cage-free policies and reporting practices.

In Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, and Uganda, powerful companies—including Abusol, Soola Chicken Farm, and Pricam Cake Center—pledged to make cage-free progress in their supply chains, greatly easing the suffering of countless egg-laying hens. Abusol oversees 10% of commercial egg production in Rwanda, making this a pivotal win that will have a huge influence on the future of Rwanda’s cage-free movement, thanks to OWA member Rwanda Animal Welfare Organization.

Asia Pacific (APAC)

As over 60% of the world’s egg-laying hens are housed in Asia, cage-free progress was critical for the global cage-free movement. OWA groups in the region rose to the challenge: in 2024, their creativity and dedication delivered a mighty blow to systemic animal abuse, making key improvements for animals in retail, restaurant, and hotel supply chains. They also worked collaboratively to publish the Asia Cage-free Benchmark Report.

In Indonesia, Israel, Japan, and Taiwan, several corporate giants—ranging from Subway to Archipelago International—pledged to make cage-free progress in their supply chains in 2024. In Indonesia, Animal Friends Jogja, Sinergia Animal and Animals Don’t Speak Human introduced cage-free districts. This innovative initiative involves introducing a labeling system to make it easy to see which businesses have transitioned to cage-free within a defined area. Cage-free districts have been launched in specific locations in Bali and Yogyakarta, leveraging their popularity with tourists.

Europe

OWA groups in Europe negotiated with and campaigned against companies and institutions to improve the lives of broiler chickens (chickens raised for meat) and egg-laying hens across the region—progressing and securing corporate and governmental policies that would significantly reduce extreme suffering. More companies signed on to the European Chicken Commitment (ECC), a set of standards protecting broilers from factory farming’s worst abuses.

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, Estonia, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Poland, Serbia, Slovakia, and Spain, the cage-free movement was bolstered by groundbreaking corporate policies and proposed legislation. In Latvia, Francis—the most popular mayonnaise brand in the country–committed to going cage-free. Francis takes 55% of the market share in the country.

In Austria, France, Germany, Sweden, and Spain, broiler chicken welfare also advanced, with commitments from influential companies like Popeyes France, Stena Line, and Lidl in Germany.

Latin America

Because of the tireless work and strategic collaboration of Latin America OWA groups, the region continued to change the world for chickens in 2024—taking on corporate giants and making incredible progress for the cage-free movement, protecting even more animals from factory farming’s worst abuses.

In Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Mexico, and across the region, the global animal protection movement had an undeniably successful year: several companies and schools committed to going cage-free. In Chile, Fundación Veg secured a cage-free commitment from Melt Pizza’s, with over 40 locations across the country. In Colombia, Sinergia Animal secured a cage-free commitment from burger chain Chef Burger, with over 25 locations. And in Brazil, Nissin Foods, one of the world’s leaders in the production of instant food, publicly announced that it has fulfilled its cage-free commitment in the country.

Introducing the newest OWA members

In 2024, eight new member groups joined the OWA, further strengthening the power and diversity of the growing global cage-free movement.

Africa

• Somali Animal Welfare Society

Asia Pacific (APAC)

• Australian Alliance for Animals

• Korean Animal Rights Advocates

Europe

• Frente Animal

• Farmállatvédelem

• Alliance for Animals

Latin America

• Fundación Derecho y Defensa Animal

• Alianza Alimentaria y Acción Climática A. C.

2024 summits

The OWA held three successful global summits this year.

• The OWA Africa Summit theme was A new regional strategy for Africa. It was held in Machakos, Kenya from July 16-18, 2024. 37 activists from 20 OWA organizations attended the summit, which offered 12 presentations and three workshops.

• The OWA Latin America Summit theme was Unity—the state of being joined as a whole. It was held in Bogota, Colombia from September 3-5, 2024. 51 activists from 15 OWA organizations attended the summit, which offered a variety of presentations and workshops, as well as meet-ups, working groups, and networking sessions.

• The OWA Asia Summit theme was Shared Vision, Shared Success: Cage-free Asia by 2045. It was held in Taoyuan, Taiwan from November 12-14, 2024. 29 activists from 10 OWA organizations attended the summit, which offered five presentations, four workshops, one panel, and a visit to a local cage-free chicken barn.

With guided opportunities to learn, share resources, and strategize in close collaboration, every summit is critical to building power and resilience for the global animal protection movement—ultimately driving progress forward for factory-farmed animals all around the world.

The OWA in 2025, by the numbers

Grants:

The OWA provided programmatic grants to support institutional campaigns on behalf of egg-laying hens and chickens raised for meat. In March 2024, the OWA awarded $2,056,500 to 38 member organizations to support regional corporate campaign work.

For more information about the grantees and their project plans, visit the grants page of the OWA website.

Global standings

OWA organizations have collectively:

• Over 1.3M supporters (volunteers, members of online activist networks, and donors)
• Over 4.3M email newsletter subscribers
• Over 17M Facebook followers
• Over 1M Twitter/X followers
• Over 3M Instagram followers
• Over 100K LinkedIn followers
• Over 200K TikTok followers
• Over 420 staff working on cage-free and broiler welfare initiatives, and over 1,600 staff total

OWA organizations have received:

• Over 31K media mentions in 2024

OWA organizations have organized:

• Over 1K public actions supporting cage-free or broiler welfare initiatives in 2024

OWA organizations have given:

• Over 300 talks related to cage-free or broiler initiatives at events in 2024

Looking ahead to 2025

The sheer magnitude of the Open Wing Alliance’s accomplishments in 2024—many achieved in close collaboration with other OWA member groups—proves that when passionate advocates keep working together to make an impact, that impact is massive. Corporations and governments can’t ignore the sound of millions of individuals—representing billions of animals—demanding real change, day after day.

This extraordinary work to end the abuse of chickens worldwide was powered by animal lovers around the world—all committed to a kinder future for factory-farmed animals.

Want to join this historic movement for animals and create global change? Sign up for the OWA action app to take quick, ready-made actions against corporations supporting animal abuse, join as a volunteer, or consider making a donation. Whatever action you take today will contribute to our shared fight to end factory farming, everywhere.