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When it comes to doing the weekly shop and buying a fresh carton of free-range eggs, bigger is not always better.
Over the past few weeks I have been putting as much effort as possible into backing the campaign by the British Free Range Egg Producers Association and Ulster Farmers Union to promote and ask shoppers to buy a range of sized eggs, rather than their usual half-dozen large.
About 13bn eggs are eaten in the UK and Ireland every year. Every day half the eggs laid by free-range hens are classed as large or very large, meaning the other half are medium or small. This is a staggering statistic when you sit back and think about it.
The majority of us, myself included, never really gave much thought to the size issue or how the industry deals with the small and medium egg. Until now, all sizes were valued and utilised in specific ways, whether in the foodservice sector, in processing, niche or export markets.
But over the last 12 months the consumer trend has rapidly moved towards large and extra large as the main choice. We have to ask ourselves: why? The only difference between a large and small egg is the white – the yoke is the same size, so basically there is still the same amount of nutrition.
Hens naturally lay smaller eggs when they are younger and the size increases as birds get bigger. This consumer preference means medium and small eggs are worth less to the producer, even though the costs of production stay the same.
I think the leading supermarkets and marketing specialists need to realise that this sudden change in consumer trend shopping just didn’t materialise overnight. These shopping decisions have been influenced by advertising, marketing and promotions.
The campaign to encourage shoppers to buy mixed-weight eggs is really starting to motor in the lead-up to Christmas, and it is important that leading figures in the egg sector and wholesale markets get behind it and support the producer– to help stabilise their income for the future.
Contracts
I was talking to a chap I know recently who asked my advice on a poultry house project he was looking to build.
He claimed that the restrictions he faced, never mind the capital cost invested at the early stage of the project, was very off-putting.
This seems to be the norm nowadays across the board. You have planning, environmental issues, neighbours and all the consultation work under the sun. Also the banks and lending institutions are playing hardball over finance.
I too have experienced some of these issues with my own units, but we also have to recognise that the individual bodies who set the parameters for compliance and scale need to be in place.
We need everyone to work together to facilitate a structured growth plan for the egg industry, which also allows expansion when demand dictates. We also must not allow outside companies, to sign up large numbers of producers in NI with no plan for sales. The danger is that leads to oversupply, which will result in prices paid to everyone being reduced.
As the majority of banks now will not lend unless a solid contract is in place by a reputable processor or packer, let’s hope all other bodies will follow suit and help stabilise the industry, as we potentially head into choppy Brexit waters.
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