CINCINNATI – The Kroger Co. is working to make cage-free eggs more affordable for its customers. The supermarket chain introduced a new Kroger-brand line of cage-free eggs Sept. 6.

"Kroger-brand Cage-Free Eggs are now available in our family of stores nationwide," said Gil Phipps, Kroger's vice president of corporate brands. "More customers are looking for an affordable cage-free egg option. Our goal is to help our customers migrate to the cage-free category by offering an affordable alternative to conventional eggs."

In March, the company announced its goal is to transition to a 100 percent cage-free egg supply chain by 2025.

"In order to ensure a smooth transition by 2025, we need to start attracting customers to cage-free eggs now," said Mel Bomprezzi, Kroger's vice president of grocery merchandising. "We remain committed to working with our suppliers during this transition in a way that ensures eggs are readily available, safely produced, and affordably priced for all of our customers."

Kroger has offered cage-free eggs for many years including the Simple Truth and Simple Truth Organic brands. In 2015, 15 percent of the eggs sold at the supermarket were cage-free (the industry average in 2015 was 9 percent).