European soya for laying hens

The firms Lüchinger+Schmid and EiCO supply Migros cooperatives with free-range eggs. Soya meal is an important component of the feed for laying hens and, without this climate protection project, it would be sourced from the normal Swiss soya market, meaning it would be a mixture of Brazilian and European soya. The standard practice is to purchase soya animal feed at the lowest prices. Switching completely to European soya therefore entails costs that are very difficult to estimate. Since mid-2022 it has been possible, thanks to the climate contribution, to source soya feed for laying hens exclusively from European growing regions and that is 100% ProTerra certified. 

Emissions are lower because of, among other things, the shorter distances the soya has to travel, which result in around 40% of the emissions of Brazilian soya. ProTerra certification guarantees that producers maintain biodiversity and restore areas of natural vegetation in sensitive areas. In addition, the certified farms must follow good agricultural practices and, where possible, implement ecologically sound systems, such as integrated pest management (IPM) and organic farming methods. 

With the switch to sourcing all soya feed for Swiss laying hens from Europe, we now get our soya from areas that have been farmed for centuries and don’t need to be deforested. The soya does not come solely from monoculture farming and travels substantially shorter distances. All of this reduces greenhouse-gas emissions and protects the environment.

Raphaela Brand, Head of Sustainability – Eggs, Migros