TLDR: The Open Wing Alliance (OWA) just launched a global cage-free campaign against the largest Korean food multinational, CJ Group. Thanks to a once-in-a-generation alignment of factors, any action you take to support this campaign is likely to have an unusually high expected value, easily as high as the recent Ahold Delhaize campaign.
I'm the Data and Insights Lead at The Humane League. Here's the case.
South Korea is making a generational infrastructure decision. A September 2027 ban on the smallest (500cm2) battery cages means the Korean egg industry is in the process of investing millions into new housing systems. That means either slightly larger cages or aviary systems. Those decisions are being made as I write, and the window will close in the next ≈6-9 months (as new farms take several months).
The conditions for a cage-free transition are an order of magnitude more favourable than anything I've seen in an Asian market. Cage-free retail egg sales in Korea have tripled since 2022 despite a 58% price premium and no commitments from the top retailers - a level of consumer willingness to pay unmatched anywhere in Asia and possibly the world. Some broiler farmers are reportedly switching to cage-free egg production just because it's more profitable. The newly elected progressive government pledged to expand cage-free farm subsidies and create a national animal welfare institute. Two local manufacturers (Pulmuone, Otoki) already have commitments.
Yet, as long as dominant corporations aren’t committed and reliably demanding cage-free eggs, enlarged cages remain the default investment for most farms. Cage-free retail sales still account for only 14% of the total, and this doesn't include the 30-40% of eggs used in foodservice and CPG.
The 2027 deadline was already extended once in September 2025. If the industry locks in enlarged cages instead of aviaries, we lose this opportunity for the lifespan of those brand new cages, which is decades.
CJ Group is the largest Korean food conglomerate spanning food manufacturing (Bibigo), restaurants (TOUS les JOURS, 1,300+ bakeries globally), distribution (CJ Freshway), and contract catering (plus many other non-food sectors. They are behind blockbusters like Parasite, and K-beauty empire Olive Young). Critically, CJ has been investing aggressively in US expansion and staking its growth on the global appeal of Korean culture and food. International growth is exceptionally valuable for CJ and other Korean conglomerates, since the domestic market is saturated and shrinking. Unsurprisingly, the Korean government treats K-expansion as a key strategic national interest. That degree of dependency on overseas markets makes companies like CJ uniquely vulnerable to a global OWA campaign.
Asia is the endgame for animals. It’s already more impactful than all other regions combined and will be even more so in the future. A Korean whole-industry shift would create the first robust Asian precedent, directly accelerate cage-free progress in key Asian markets like Vietnam and Indonesia (where Korean companies are expanding heavily), and likely accelerate cage-free progress in neighbouring Japan, home to the largest Asian food multinationals and where local progress has been hardest. Using Welfare Footprint Institute estimates and assuming a 2-year acceleration for the ~3 billion commercial hens in cages in Asia, the implied reduction is on the order of 1.6 trillion hours of disabling pain and 14 trillion hours of hurtful pain. The direct impact isn't negligible either, with an estimated 2 million hens in the supply chain of CJ Group.
Sign the petition and take action here.
