What on earth is a 'free-range' egg and why does it matter for all agribusinesses?

What exactly is a 'free-range' egg? Ultimately, it is about a consumer not having to feel guilty about the dozen eggs in their shopping trolley. So many consumers are affected by images of hens living in battery cages that a mainstream market (with a sales premium) now thrives for eggs laid by hens not living most of their lives in cages or sheds.

However, there is no uniform standard for what free-range means. If a producer wants to market their eggs as free-range, numerous industry bodies and animal welfare associations offer their own accreditations. Some demand a maximum of 1,500 birds per hectare, while others allow product to be called free-range with 10,000 birds per hectare. There are even pushes to raise this to 20,000 per hectare. This lack of standardisation creates an economic problem for many producers: the 10,000 per hectare producer has considerably better efficiencies than the 1,500 producer, but both can call their product free-range. This translates