FARM REPORT ▶▶▶
US farm pushing forward free-range egg sales
BY JAKE DAVIES I
n 2016 two of the US’s largest buyers of eggs from Ameri- can farms said they would phase out the sale of eggs from caged hens: the world’s biggest retailer Walmart and the fast-food giant McDonald’s. Their announcement
marked the beginning of a major change in the American egg market and ever since companies have been making sim- ilar announcements and transitioning their supply chains away from caged eggs. While cage-free – or barn – reared eggs are most likely to feature as the largest segment of the market, there is increasing demand for free-range, organic and other speciality tiers of egg.
Blue Sky Farm One company well placed to take advantage of Americans’ increasing interest in cage-free is Egg Innovations which, along with its consumer brand Blue Sky Family Farms, has been forging ahead with free-range production for some time. Its farming roots date back more than 100 years, ac- cording to chief executive John Brunnquell, who comes from
The American egg market is undergoing a structural change with businesses rapidly rejecting caged hens in favour of barn, free-range and organic alternatives. One company at the forefront of the free-range movement tells Poultry World how it does business.
a homestead close to Port Washington, Wisconsin. The farm and the business sells only either free-range or pasture-raised eggs. He says free-range is becoming ever-more popular with American shoppers increasingly concerned about the welfare of the animals that produce their food.
Animal welfare “Shoppers support it because a growing part of the popula- tion places a high value on animal welfare. Those in the mil- lennial generation, specifically, have now grown up and are making more decisions for themselves and their families, and have a greater discretionary income to spend on brands that align with their values.” John tapped into this trend and has built up a business that is a major player in the American
Farm facts: Egg Innovations
• Founded in 1999 • Consumer brand Blue Sky Farms established in 2013 • PECKISH Peck Packs – a hardboiled snack – launched in 2020 • 50 family farms supplying the business with 1.1 million eggs a day (400 million a year) laid by 1.4 million hens
American Egg Market
• Americans eat 287.1 eggs per capita which makes the country one of the world’s biggest egg consumers
• In addition to world-leading consumption, the US is a major exporter of eggs and egg products
John Brunnquell has built up a business that is a major player in the American free-range and pasture-raised egg movement.
• Iowa, Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania are the top four egg producing States • The number of cage-free hens is growing rapidly – there are now close to 70 million birds in such systems, according to the American Egg Board
▶ POULTRY WORLD | No. 2, 2021 15
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