Area firm buys Wegmans egg farm

By Matt Glynn NEWS BUSINESS REPORTER
The Buffalo News
Updated: 11/02/07 6:58 AM

After four decades of ownership, Wegmans has sold its egg farm east of Rochester to a Clarence- based egg producer.

Kreher's Poultry Farms acquired the farm, in the Town of Wolcott in Wayne County, from the Rochester-based supermarket chain for an undisclosed amount.

Kreher's will keep the Wayne County location as well as the employees who are working there, said Kurt Kreher, a partner in the business. Several members of the Wadsworth family, which has operated the site since it opened in 1967, will remain with the egg farm, he said.

The Wolcott farm's 750,000 chickens lay eggs that are sold under Wegmans' brand name. Wegmans says the farm processes an average of 600,00 0 eggs per day, supplying a network of Wegmans supermarkets that has grown to 71 locations.

The supermarket chain will continue to receive its storebrand eggs from the Wolcott site, Kreher said.

The business already supplies Wegmans with eggs under the Eggland's Best brand, and that will continue, he said.

Jo Natale, a Wegmans spokeswoman, said Wegmans' decision to sell the egg farm was driven by consolidation in the egg industry in recent years. Wegmans was faced with having to increase egg production beyond its own needs, she said.

"That was not a direction we wanted to go," Natale said.

Kreher's Poultry Farms traces its roots to 1924 and is now run by the family's third generation. In the Town of Newstead, it operates an egg farm of similar size to the Wolcott operation.

In addition, the company operates what it believes is the state's largest organic farm, with about 3,000 acres in Alden, Clarence and Newstead, most of which is rented land, Kreher said.

The Wolcott farm is considered the largest egg farm in New York State. It has been the target of a Rochester-based animal rights group, Compassionate Consumers, over the birds' living conditions. The group's members have called for Wegmans to stop using "battery cages" to contain the birds.

Wegmans has fought the allegations.

On Saturday, December 23, 2006, eight activists from around the country stood up for the 750,000 hens at Wegmans Egg Farm.  Demonstrators were well-received by members of the public and employees alike at the East Avenue store in Rochester, NY.  Several passing motorists expressed their support for our campaign, and we distributed nearly forty copies of "Wegmans Cruelty" to interested consumers. 

Photos of the event will be available soon at www.wegmanscruelty.com.

As 2006 comes to a close, please don't forget about the hens whose misery continues, regardless of the day, at the egg farm in Wolcott, NY.  Let's make 2007 the year in which Wegmans goes cage-free!  Even though the farm is in upstate New York, Wegmans has stores in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia -- consumers and activists in all of these areas should be expressing their outrage to the company.  Sign the petition at www.URVEG.org, or contact info@compassionateconsumers.org to find out how to start coordinating demonstrations in your region.

Happy holidays to everyone!  May 2007 bring some much-needed peace to the people and the animals of the world.

Jenna Calabrese
Compassionate Consumers
www.wegmanscruelty.com

Sign the petition!
www.URVEG.org

CA students protest at Wegmans

By MIKE COSTANZA
Messenger Post Staff
Posted: Dec 17, 06:00 AM EST

They say the grocery chain's egg farm is cruel to chickens.

CANANDAIGUA — Canandaigua Academy students and Rochester animal-rights activists braved Saturday's chilly weather to protest Wegmans' egg-farming practices. The nine protesters picketed the Wegmans store at 345 Eastern Boulevard from about noon to 2:30 p.m.

Katie Barber shivered in the stiff wind, but her sign, which read "Wegmans, Please Go Cage-Free," didn't tremble. The CA junior and about five of her fellow students protested conditions at Wegmans' Wolcott egg farm.

"Their egg farm is very cruel," the 17-year-old said. "Their chickens aren't being cared for properly."

Barber said Wegmans' chickens live out their lives in cages with floors no larger than a common office file folder. Once they're no longer capable of giving eggs, they're slaughtered and sold.

While describing conditions at the Wolcott farm, Barber referred to a film by local animal rights activist Adam Durand. Durand, director of the consumer and animal-rights group Compassionate Consumers, filmed conditions inside the egg farm in 2004, and made the film available to the public. He was one of three Rochester adults who joined the Canandaigua kids on the protest line on Saturday.

Durand said the protesters hoped to prompt Wegmans to change its egg-farming practices.

"We would like Wegmans to transition towards more humane methods of egg production," Durand said.

Some of Wegmans' customers seemed to agree on the need for change.

"One man actually said after seeing our dedication that he would stop shopping at Wegmans, and would shop at Tops from now on," Durand said.

Jo Natale, Wegmans director of media relations, said the Wolcott egg farm meets industry standards for egg production.

"We voluntarily adhere to science-based standards for egg production," Natale said. "We run, really, a state-of-the-art farm."

Permalink: http://www.mpnnow.com/news/view_story.php?articleId=5293

Today, activists in Rochester, NY took some serious time out of their busy schedules to stand up for animals.  Nearly twenty animal advocates came out to the Pittsford Wegmans this afternoon to voice their disapproval of the company's cruel battery cage egg facility in Wolcott, NY.  We distributed several DVDs to interested passerby and received lots of supportive honks and waves from motorists on their way to hit the nearby shopping centers.

At one point, Wegmans called the police on us to enforce their property boundaries -- and not one but five police cars descended on our demonstration.  After speaking to both us and company officials, the police determined that we were legally protesting on the public sidewalk, and the officers told us to carry on.

A huge thank you is in order to everyone who came out today to show their support for the work that Compassionate Consumers have been doing.  Whether it's a huge protest at a store or a small, two-person, impromptu morning demonstration at corporate headquarters, we are showing the company that animal cruelty is never okay -- and customers won't support those types of practices.

Check out www.wegmanscruelty.com for more upcoming events and other opportunities to get involved with the campaign!