NOVEMBER 2017 • COUNTRY LIFE IN BC


Vitala Foods cracks open free


range egg market It’s a niche market new entrant J&E Farms is ready to fill


Stories by PETER MITHAM


ABBOTSFORD – Winning new entrant quota from the BC Egg Marketing Board in 2015 was an exhilarating but daunting prospect for Jared Les, who had spent six years learning the poultry business with another Chilliwack grower, the Pauls family. But setting up his own farm at the age of 20 was another matter. While he knew he wanted to take up farming and a producer- vendor license would allow him to market his own eggs, Les also knew the challenges he faced. He was very much walking on eggshells. But the opportunities


dovetailed with a new egg Vitala Foods Inc. of Abbotsford planned to hatch. Vitala’s initial line of free


run “sunshine eggs” enriched with Omega-3 fatty acids and a day’s worth of vitamin D was enjoying steady sales but consumers were showing an increased appetite for free range eggs. Vitala saw an opportunity and was looking for growers. “[It] fit in exactly with the


type of barn and free-range system that I built,” says Les, who with his wife Emma operates J&E Farms. “[It] worked out with timing and their vision for the brand. It was just a really good match.” Les completed his barn a


year ago and received his first flock of 6,000 birds in December 2016. By the time the hens were trained and laying eggs on a regular basis, Vitala launched its Free Bird line of free-range eggs enriched with vitamin D. The vitamin content comes


from a ration mixed with yeast Lallemand Inc. treats with ultraviolet light to augment its vitamin D content. The brown-shelled eggs each contain 200 UI of Vitamin D, the equivalent of the recommended daily dose. Whatever the hens feel about their feed, it’s the barn structure that reputedly keeps them happy. Les installed an aviary-style barn with a tiered architecture that gives the hens perches, room to roam and outdoor access where they can hunt, peck and – to all appearances – enjoy a higher quality of life. “It allows the birds to do a


few of their more natural behaviours and express those,” Les explains. “During the day they like to go down on the floor level, which has a litter base, and they scratch in that and actually dust bath, which helps keep their coat nice, and if there are any mites – which we haven’t had – it helps knock the mites down as well.”


While this is his first free- range flock, Les says the birds seem to have enjoyed the arrangement. “It’s been a bit of a learning


curve but I think we’ve done a pretty good job with this first flock,” he says.


When his second flock


arrives in December, Les will apply what he learned with the first flock to training the hens to lay in the nesting boxes as well as range management. “I really like having the


birds outside,” he says. “[But] they like to dig holes, I found out, so it’s been a challenge to keep the grass nice for them to forage in.”


Good arrangement The arrangement is


working for Bill Vanderkooi, CEO of Nutriva, the group that owns Vitala Foods Inc. alongside ventures including Bakerview EcoDairy as well as transport and feed companies. Vitala partnered with Les


for the Free Bird venture. Through its grading partner in Saskatoon, Star Egg Co. Ltd., it sources eggs from a farm in that province to supply local markets. Its grader in BC is Golden Valley Foods Ltd. of Abbotsford. “These partnerships, to me,


are an exciting way to grow the business fairly quickly without being super capital- intensive,” he says, reiterating a comment to the Globe and Mail in 2010: “I’m a product developer. The less I can be involved with the actual equipment, the manufacturing, the happier I am.”


The approach has led Nutriva to sales of $15 million, up from $12 million five years ago. Vitala is a small but growing portion of revenues; it sells 20,000 dozen free-run eggs a month and Vanderkooi aims to boost free-range sales


See BOOST on next page o


One year in, Emma and Jared Les are already ahead of a curve that recognizes a market for free range eggs. SUBMITTED PHOTO


Regulating the range The growing market for free range egg


production is prompting the BC Egg Marketing Board to adopt standards defining what qualifies as “free range” production. The new standard was announced


October 1. A specialty production manual detailing requirements was produced in March, and producers received training over the summer to ensure compliance by January 2018. Unsurprising for free range production, the standard requires hens have access to the outdoors but it mandates that the birds be outside for at least six hours a day, 120 days a year, so long as temperatures remain between 15 and 30 degrees Celsius. Any restriction on access must be with a veterinarian’s recommendation, such as for


disease control. Range conditions will also be regulated. Grass must cover 50% of the range, while debris and anything that would attract predators or pests are forbidden. The standard stipulates predator protection such as fences and netting, and highly recommends a stocking density that doesn’t affect range cover. The standard is a first for Canada, so far as


a third-party auditor – the organic certification agency Pro-Cert – will monitor compliance with the new protocols. Previously, free range producers simply


received spot inspections from the marketing board staff and graders. Pro-Cert audits of BC’s free range egg producers will begin in January 2018.


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