Cara Operations has pledged to serve only cage-free eggs at all its restaurants by 2020.
Cara Operations will serve only cage-free eggs at all its restaurants by 2020.

VAUGHAN, Ontario – Cara Operations Ltd., Canada’s largest full-service restaurant operator, said a number of its brands will begin using only 100 percent cage-free eggs in 2016 with all brands transitioning by 2020.

Cara joins a growing list of foodservice operators, food manufacturers and retailers that have committed to sourcing cage-free eggs in response to demands for transparency and humane animal handling and welfare practices.

“Our customers increasingly want to know more about the source of the food they eat. Our decision to source only cage-free eggs is one more step in this direction. Cara is committed to this important initiative.” Bill Gregson, chairman and CEO of Cara, said in a statement. “We have determined that moving to source only 100 percent cage-free eggs from farms that treat animals humanely on this time frame is the right decision for our guests, employees, franchisee partners and the company.”

Cara owns Swiss Chalet casual dining restaurants, Harvey’s, a chain of burger outlets and many other foodservice brands in Canada. As of Dec. 27, 2015, the company had 1,010 restaurants, with 973 in Canada and 37 located internationally.

Cara joins Target Corp., ConAgra Foods, the Campbell Soup Co., Mondelez International, Wendy’s and Denny’s, which adopted similar policies in the past few weeks.