Fast growing egg producer and packer L J Fairburn & Son is continuing to press ahead with huge investment, expansion and modernisation.
Nearly 130,000 free range birds have been added to the company’s own production this year, another 32,000-bird unit is currently under construction, older sheds are being systematically replaced or upgraded in a continually rolling programme, rearing numbers have been expanded, as have feed milling facilities, money has gone into expanding throughput at the firm’s two packing centres and Fairburn’s has continued to win new contracts – adding to a growing list of major retailers who receive their eggs from the Lincolnshire-based firm. The latest one is Costco, the US membership warehouse giant that has established a big presence in the UK.
When Fairburn’s split with Noble Foods just two years ago, the firm’s only contract was for 2,000 cases to Aldi. Last year its packing stations turned out 24,000 cases each week; this year it is nearly 34,000 cases a week. The company’s turnover has increased fivefold in just three years and Fairburn’s, which is based at Alford in Lincolnshire, is now the biggest employer in the area, with more than 200 staff.
“We are still a family-run business and everything we make goes back into the business,” said managing director Daniel Fairburn. “We are not taking money out, we are re-investing for the future, increasing our production so that we know we can supply new contracts when we win them.”
His wife, Sarah Louise Fairburn, the brand and sales director, said, “That is very important. When we make a promise to a customer, we have to make sure we deliver.” It is not only Fairburn’s own production that has been increasing to meet growing demand, but also that of contract producers who supply the family’s packing stations. One producer has increased bird numbers from 12,000 to 38,000; another one has expanded his flock from 32,000 to 96,000. “We want to allow our producers to grow as well, and in the main they are doing so,” said Sarah Louise.
The growth at Fairburn’s has clearly been phenomenal. Until 2013, the firm was simply a contract producer itself, although a big one. The Fairburns were believed to be the biggest independent producers supplying Noble Foods – the biggest egg company in the United Kingdom. At that time they had an Asda-dedicated packing centre that was turning out egg packs on behalf of Noble. But the price they were receiving for their eggs led them to go it alone.
They have since secured contracts with Aldi, Sainsbury’s and Iceland, they are selling their branded free range eggs into Asda and they also supply the new Netto stores, which were introduced to the UK as a result of a joint venture between Sainsbury’s and Dansk Supermarked. Costco is the latest addition to the fold.
“We are really excited to be working with Costco,” said Sarah Louise. “It is the first time we have taken our own branded eggs national,” she said. Fairburn’s brand has been on sale regionally in major stores but, with Costco, the eggs are going into branches all across the country.
Fairburn’s won the contract in August and the results so far have been far better than anyone expected. “It has gone really well. We are about 30 per cent ahead of forecast,” said Daniel. Sales have gone so well that the company has been asked to increase the sizes of the packs from 18 to 24 to keep up with demand.
Fairburn’s remains very much a family business. It is owned by Stuart and Judy Fairburn, although run by their son, Daniel. His sister, Sarah, is the milling and operations director and another sister, Caroline, is the director responsible for payments and invoicing.
However, despite the hands-on approach of the family, Sarah Louise said that Fairburn’s had recently made of a number of key appointments to help manage the growth of the business and take pressure off family members. “We need time to manage the company. There has been massive expansion here. We needed to bring other people in, but they had to be the right people. I think we have achieved that. I think we have some incredibly good staff; the best in the industry.”
Dave Willis recently took on the job of technical and operations director. In the egg business for 20 years, he previously worked for Thames Valley, Stonegate and Oaklands Farm Eggs before taking up his position at Fairburn’s. He is responsible for the packing operations at the company.
Bob Waller has brought his experience with the RSPCA’s Freedom Food to his role as welfare manager. All of Fairburn’s laying sites are BEIC and Freedom Food accredited. Sarah Louise said that animal welfare was very important to the family. “It is not just Freedom Food standard; we expect Fairburn standard. When clients come and see the business we want them to be able to see that the welfare standards here are as good as they could be.”
New agricultural manager Amy Sharpe has joined the business from Moy Park and new financial director, Alan Metcalfe, has switched from Baker Tilley. “He was already overseeing our accounts on behalf of Baker Tilley. He has come on board because, with the amount of money we are re-investing into the business, we needed to make sure that everything was managed as efficiently as possible.”
The investment includes four new free range units this year. Each one holds 32,000 birds and a fifth is currently under construction. Each of them is multi-tier units. Some 25 per cent of the family’s units are now multi-tier. Older units are being converted to multi-tier, too, as part of the refurbishment programme. They are also being extended when replaced or refurbished.
Once the current unit under construction is completed, the Fairburns will have some 416,000 free range birds. There are 200,000 layers housed in barn production and 92,000 organic layers. The organic eggs are mainly for Sainsbury’s. Sarah Louise said that the demand for organic was particularly strong at the moment. The family is currently increasing the size of its organic flock by 12,000.
“It’s doing very well just now. With the price gap between cage and free range closing, organic is coming into its own again,” said Sarah Louise. “People have a bit more money to spend as well. But egg sales overall are very strong and that is good news for all producers. We all want to see consumers eating more eggs.”
The Fairburns also have 900,000 birds in enriched cages. The family believes that enriched will gradually decline over the years ahead, but for now it says that there is still a demand for value eggs. “The market is really price driven at the moment,” said Sarah Louise. Whilst she and Daniel believe that the barn egg may eventually replace cage, they feel that it is still too soon to abandon enriched cage production.
“You would have to be very brave to make the change at the moment when the competition is so aggressive,” said Sarah Louise. “Would you be bold enough to ask supermarkets for an extra 10 pence a dozen because you were switching to barn?”
All of the family’s current barn production goes to Sainsbury’s. It is one supermarket that has abandoned cage completely, but other retailers still want enriched cage.
The increase in bird numbers at Alford has resulted in an increase in rearing capacity. One of the advantages the Fairburns have is that theirs is a truly vertical operation. As well as producing eggs, they rear their own pullets and mill their own feed from the crops grown on their own arable land.
Bob Waller said that the firm was using table systems to rear pullets to go into the increasing numbers of multi-tier units. “We think that is best for us at the moment. There are other dedicated systems coming along, but they are not yet approved by Freedom Food or the RSPCA,” he said.
Fairburn’s recently invested in a new Moba 530 grader – the biggest and the only one of its kind in this country, says the company. The firm is about to change from fibre to plastic trays to improve bio-security and recyclability. It is also investing in a new Echberg washing plant.
The milling operation has been expanded to meet the increased demand for feed – the Fairburns also sell feed to other producers. One attraction of the milling operation is its ability to produce a wide range of formulations to meet the individual needs of retail customers. The mill is currently producing more than 20 different mixes to enable the firm to produce an egg to a customer’s exact requirements.
Money has also gone into expanding the company’s transport fleet. It now has 14 lorries.
All these things add up to significant and sustained investment. But it has helped to increase turnover at Fairburn’s from £12 million to £60 million in just three years. The investment is set to continue. The increase in turnover is likely to do the same.
