Around 50 egg producers and packers attended a meeting in Cookstown on Monday night organised by the UFU to discuss the decision by major British supermarkets to stop sourcing eggs from caged hens by 2025.

While some supermarkets stopped sourcing caged eggs a number of years ago, others such as Tesco, Lidl, Asda and Morrisons only made announcements this summer. That came on the back of an online petition by 14-year-old, Lucy Gavaghan from Sheffield. “I am going to go bankrupt on the back of a 14-year-old girl,” said one egg producer.

It is not long since caged egg producers spent an estimated £400m across the UK to comply with the ban on battery cages introduced in January 2012. There are 1.8m hens in NI in colony systems, accounting for 36% of all birds.

Producers questioned if sufficient marketing has been done to ensure consumers understand the difference between colony production and battery cages. A number pointed to animal health and welfare benefits from colony systems and highlighted that they do not have the land available around their houses to follow the drive towards free range. The other option is to move to a barn system of production, an investment that could cost up to £30 per bird.

In the short term, the UFU is to raise the issue with counterparts in Britain and also the British Egg Industry Council to establish the potential for a coordinated representation from industry.

The aim is to get clarity from supermarkets on when they intend phasing out caged eggs, and what assurances they can give on barn production.