BFREPA calls for period of price stability
British Free Range Egg Producers Association (BFREPA) chairman Roger Gent used his opening address to the group’s annual conference to call for a period of price stability for egg farmers.
Mr Gent told this year’s conference that, although feed prices had fallen over the past year, operational costs, such as energy, were still on the rise.
He added that new, smaller egg packers, which have emerged over the last 18 months, could potentially bring stronger competition to the market – but that should put pressure on retailers, not farmers.
Robert Gooch, policy director for BFREPA, also told the conference that the association was working with a firm to build a database of eggs’ isotope “fingerprint”, eventually meaning a lab test could reveal which country the egg was laid in.
“This is about protecting the integrity and provenance of free-range eggs,” said Mr Gooch. He pointed to the example of the British Pig Executive (BPEX) which had found pork from the Netherlands that had been labeled as British, adding it was a tool BFREPA needed.
“If there is any fraud in the future, that can be at the expense of our eggs as producers,” he said. “We want to try and avoid any media scares that could occur from a breakdown in the supply chain.”
The test will be able to detect the provenence of egg used in baked products. He called for producers to send in half a dozen eggs to help build the database.
Mr Gooch said the test could help hold retailers to account, as well as assure consumers that egg was really British.
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