CluckAR app cuts through egg price hype

Consumers are urged to make use of CHOICE’s CluckAR app to ensure they are actually purchasing free-range eggs.

CHOICE originally launched a boycott of certain free-range egg brands and its CluckAR app in the wake of the consumer affairs minister’s decision to sign off on a national standard for free-range eggs that has no requirement for hens to actually go outside.

The consumer advocacy group is now urging customers not to get drawn into supermarket hype surrounding discounted free-range eggs.

“The sad fact is that there are plenty of eggs labelled free range that come from hens kept in cramped conditions, with no requirement for them to ever go outside,” said CHOICE Head of Media Tom Godfrey.

“Packing hens into sheds, or creating situations where most hens can’t realistically go outside, is a long way from consumers’ expectations when they think of free range, and any discount on these products doesn’t change the fact that you’re still not getting what you believe you’ve paid for.

“Instead, we’d urge consumers who want to buy free-range eggs to download the newly updated and free CluckAR app [and] scan cartons to find out whether they meet the CHOICE free range.”

The Model Code of Practice for the welfare of animals limits outdoor stocking density at 1500 hens per hectare. However, the national standard lifts this cap to 10,000 birds per hectare — more than six times the current maximum.

To date, more than 85,000 consumers have voted with their smartphones, with over 2600 scans being completed every day and more than a million egg cartons scanned since the app was launched.

“The popularity of our augmented reality app, CluckAR, demonstrates that the current free-range egg labelling does not provide sufficient information for consumers to make an informed decision,” said Godfrey.

“Consumers should have confidence that the term ‘free range’ reflects their reasonable expectation that hens spend time outside, have room to move inside and out, and that farmers employ animal welfare practices.”

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