Spanish producer commits €200m to take 10 million hens out of cages

Published on : 20 Sep 2026

Huevos Guillén, the main egg supplier to Spain's largest supermarket chain Mercadona, is spending €200 million over four years to take its entire laying flock out of cages, with a new €14.5 million free range unit in Badajoz the first major site in the programme.

The Valencia-based producer said around 80 per cent of its 6.13 million hens will be in cage-free systems by the end of 2026, up from 73 per cent in 2025 and 60 per cent in 2024. It expects to sell close to 100 million dozen cage-free eggs this year, an increase of 28.6 per cent, with roughly 93 per cent of them going to Mercadona. The company said all fresh shell eggs it supplies to consumers should come from cage-free systems by 2028, subject to planning and administrative permits, and it is aiming for a flock of 10 million hens by the end of 2030.

Mercadona is a family-owned retailer, also based in Valencia, with around 1,700 stores in Spain and a growing estate in Portugal. It reported turnover of €41.9 billion in 2025, up 8 per cent on the year, and holds roughly a quarter of the Spanish grocery market. The chain works through a small number of long-term own-label suppliers who produce almost exclusively for it, which is why a single producer's investment programme effectively sets the welfare standard for its entire fresh egg range.

The Badajoz site, at Ribera del Fresno, will house 320,000 hens across eight laying sheds and five production areas when complete, with a minimum of four square metres of range per bird. At full capacity it is expected to produce close to 97 million eggs a year. The company holds AENOR Welfair Quality certification for animal welfare and said it has put nearly €216 million into changing its production model over the past ten years.

Figures from the Spanish egg sector body Inprovo show cage-free production in Spain rose by more than 10 per cent year on year and now accounts for around 40 per cent of national output.