A shift towards white eggs is being framed as an environmental win, says Tim Gelfs, chair of Dorset NFU. Yet it raises familiar questions about supermarket influence
Well, apparently white eggs are to be our saviour!
We can all do our bit and eat white eggs, according to one of our leading (orange), celebrity-chef-endorsed-for-a-wedge retailers.
They have announced that they will only be stocking white eggs in the name of saving the planet, transitioning all of their own-brand shell eggs to white-shelled varieties by 2028 to cut their carbon footprint.
It is a shame that the same supermarket didn’t stick to its pledge a few years ago of ‘only stocking British free range eggs’…
It’s also a shame that they didn’t think about the environment back in 2022, when all the big retailers shafted the egg producers and started hauling Italian barn eggs onto their shelves. That wasn’t so environmentally friendly from a food miles point of view, was it?
What they also forgot to mention in their grand announcement is that the white eggs industry in Britain is in its infancy – if they want to fulfil their pledge, it’s going to cost you, the consumer, more.
Change is coming
Supermarkets are big on customer- engaging announcements. You can’t blame them, it grabs headlines and gets everyone talking, or writing, about them. The problem is they are so often ill-thought-out: generally from some boardroom which has absolutely no idea about the marketplace or industry they are deciding will make the changes!
I’d love to know where they got this little gem from? Yet again, supermarkets are saying that they are working in partnership with the industry – but in reality, they only listen to the bits they want to, offer a sympathetic nod to the uncomfortable truths, but rarely act until supply is affected … and by then it’s too late!
Will they ever change? Probably not.
But the consumer is changing!
Recently I spoke at a meeting about food resilience. There is some fantastic work going on in Dorset, with an increasing number of local people choosing to buy local, eat better and make healthier food choices. It feels like I am having more conversations about the provenance of food, all over Dorset, not just in the rural areas. I discussed at the meeting that the power is in the consumer’s hands – you make the choices. If you don’t buy it, the retailers won’t stock it!
There’s just one problem with this principle, and that’s Food Labelling. I was disappointed to find that in the government’s Farming Road Map there was not much mentioned about clear labelling. The consumer needs it to make informed choices, or inevitably what they think they’re buying, despite the big bold Union Jack, was actually grown in Outer Mongolia when you check the small print. As I told the audience, I don’t mind consumers buying whatever they want – as long as it’s an informed choice!
Image: Heather Brown
Is it environment or costs?
Now. Back to the white eggs! DO they carry a lower carbon footprint? ARE they the holy grail of the egg industry? Well, they do last longer – the average brown hen produces eggs until they are about 76 weeks, around 320-340 eggs each. The white bird produces eggs to around 100 weeks, with some producing around 500 eggs. They are a slightly lighter bird, and they eat a little less food, so they probably are lower consumers from a carbon point of view. Back in the 1950s we consumed more white eggs than brown, until the commercial brown hybrid came along and we turned to brown eggs with the help of a marketing campaign that gave the impression that brown eggs were healthier!
So, is the white egg going to make a significant return? Eventually! However, I do question the motives. Is it about the environment or is it about driving food costs down? These birds are more efficient, so are the large retailers going to let the producers keep that extra margin to re-invest? I think we all know the answer there.
More importantly, are they going to pass the savings on to the consumer? I doubt that too!
If they truly were doing it for the environment, perhaps more long-term, supportive contracts so that producers have the confidence to invest in new technologies, in state-of-the-art kit, would do more for the environment than headline-grabbing unfounded statements!
