Where Do Trader Joe's Eggs Come From?

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According to an expert, there is no best grocery chain to buy eggs from — but those who want to take their pick from a large gaggle of eggs will surely have great luck at Trader Joe's. The store sells conventional, cage-free, organic, and free-range eggs, just to name a few; let's not get into the various sizes and colors you can choose from. There are even the fertile Trader Joe's eggs that you can hatch into chicks! But where do all of these eggs come from? While the eggs sold under name brands come from various places, the ones sold under the Trader Joe's name are from Pete & Gerry's egg farms.

Pete & Gerry's is a family-owned business that got its start in the 1950s and transitioned to organic farming in 1997. Based in New Hampshire, the company now partners with almost 300 family farms across 15 states, supplying several grocery chains with eggs. In 2003, it became the very first Certified Humane egg farm in the United States and was also the first to become B-Corp Certified a decade later.

The eggs sourced from Pete & Gerry's come from hens that don't live in cages and have access to the outdoors. Per bird, the free-range chickens have a minimum of two square feet, while the pasture-raised chickens get 108 square feet. The hens enjoy a largely natural diet while roaming outside and have the chance to engage in primal behaviors.

Trader Joe's doesn't have many name brand products, but the ones that it does are held to a different standard than the store's own-brand items. The eggs sold under the Trader Joe's name are indeed all cage-free, but other branded eggs at the store might not be. The price of caged eggs is often lower than the price of more humane types, and Trader Joe's has been widely praised for the affordability of its eggs despite the nationwide shortages due to bird flu.

Despite the fact that some are disappointed to still see caged eggs on Trader Joe's shelves, more than half of the store's egg selection comes from cage-free birds. The grocery chain has noted that the range of humanely sourced eggs depends on the supply options, as well as customer demand. For now, it's better to have some cage-free options than none. And if you're curious about Pete & Gerry's Organic Free Range Eggs, you can learn more here – or grab yourself a dozen from Amazon.