Free-range Egg Sales Hit New High

Despite many consumers opting for budget foodstuffs, free-range eggs now account for 40 per cent of total retail egg sales.

“We have a tiny farm shop, but our free-range eggs sell incredibly well,” said Cheryl Allen-Stevens, owner of the Little Lodge Farm Shop in Oxfordshire. 

“People come from all over Oxfordshire to visit us and there are never any eggs left at the end of the day,” she adds.

Mrs Allen-Stevens partly attributes the rise in sales to recent campaigns by TV chefs, such as Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.

The celebrity has publicly encouraged people to boycott battery farmed eggs.

“UK consumers are becoming much more concerned with the provenance of the food they buy. Our main draw is that customers can see and feed the chickens producing the eggs,” she said.

“They may be more expensive, but once customers have tasted the quality of free-range eggs, they don’t want anything else. The recession doesn’t seem to have affected this attitude at all,” she added.

“The latest figures reinforce the position of eggs as a major part of the weekly food shop,” said Andrew Parker, chairman of the British Egg Industry Council (BEIC).

The growth follows years of decline, suggesting the egg industry has finally settled into a period of long-term growth

“After years of a market in the doldrums, the egg industry is enjoying a period of sustained growth, with consumers increasingly seeing the nutritional benefits, versatility and meal appeal,” said Mr Parker.