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Organisers BOCM PAUL had promised us that the BFREPA 'Simply Different' Annual Conference on 22nd November would be an impressive event – and it was. The day was characterised by the animated buzz of conversation in the Exhibition Hall, whilst during the afternoon the audience in the Conference Hall was treated to a rich mix of valuable information, stimulating exchanges of opinions, intriguing images of Free Range in a bygone era, and DVD footage of a cross-section of contemporary consumers offering up comments that raised many a chuckle from the audience, varying as they did from shrewdly perceptive to endearingly naive.

The Panel

Chris Kynaston

Despite the arrival of avian flu in Suffolk earlier in the month, attendance was good; provisional figures indicate that around 425 delegates turned out to support the event at Stoneleigh Park, plus a full house of exhibitors.
IN THE EXHIBITION HALL
The format of the day gave everyone the opportunity to spend time looking round the Exhibition Hall, with coffee, tea and biscuits available from the refreshments stand in the centre. At least one producer found exactly what he was looking for and was quick to snap it up: Egg Packing Enterprises (EPE) had barely finished setting up their stand when the second-hand Stallkat 102S packer that they were using in their display caught the eye of a producer who had recently expanded and was looking to upgrade. "We brought the Stallkat along primarily to enable us to demonstrate the Domino printer," explained Richard Corden, of EPE. "It just so happened that the egg packing and printing system we set up on our stand was exactly what this gentleman was looking for, so he bought the complete installation."
Elsewhere in the Exhibition Hall, suppliers were catching up with customers they speak to on the telephone throughout the year but rarely get the chance to meet face to face, and spending time explaining their products and services to other visitors. Most of the industry's big names were present, including Humphrey Feeds, Tom Barron, Fridays, Big Dutchman and many more. There was also a good range of stands offering more 'niche' products, from Hingerose, specialists in water powered dosing technology, to Crossgates Bioenergetics with their range of natural avian health remedies based on holistic principles, that can be used alongside conventional medicines. In the wake of recent debate about on-farm egg stamping, visitors had a good opportunity to see for themselves the wide choice of stamping systems available and compare systems being offered by various exhibitors.
Another stand that had chosen to focus on topical issues was Crowshall Veterinary Services, where Philip Hammond and Kathy Blake had set up an informative display with a range of free handouts giving detailed guidance on the new Lion Code sampling procedures. Whilst most of the large-scale producers have now made preparations to start sampling, many smaller producers came to this stand throughout the day for information and advice; Phil and Kathy also reported that they were answering a lot of questions from people concerned about bird flu. Also on the animal welfare side, John Newman and Reg Battershall of Freedom Food were there to talk to producers who are already under the Freedom Food banner and to explain the scheme to people thinking of setting up in the poultry industry, or moving from caged into Free Range. John and Reg reported that the scheme has continued to expand in the last year, and they encourage all new Free Range producers to look into Freedom Food, where the standards are intentionally set high but are all achievable.

IN THE CONFERENCE ROOM
After lunch, which was of the expected high standard, the afternoon session began in the upstairs Conference Room. A feature of the afternoon was that between presentations, the audience was shown a series DVD clips that followed two themes: on the one hand, consumers in the high street answered various questions relating to their perception of Free Range; and on the other, new producer Phil Greenacre told of his experiences of setting up in Free Range. This footage provided an interesting and entertaining diversion, and also complemented the presentations nicely as the subject matter was broadly related to the speakers' topics.

The Conference Chairperson Beverley Ashworth introduced the speakers and kept everything running smoothly throughout the afternoon. Following the official welcome and brief opening remarks from BFREPA Chairman Tom Vesey, the first speaker was Mark Williams, Chief Executive of the British Egg Industry Council. In his presentation, entitled 'Practice Makes Perfect', Mark covered a very wide range of topics with his customary clarity. He began with an informative overview of the British egg industry, with charts illustrating aspects such as the split between market sectors (retail/processing/foodservice), egg type (cage/barn/free range/organic) and distribution channels (multiple retailers, independents etc) and comparing the British industry to its EU competitors; here, it was heartening to see that Britain has the largest commercial Free Range flock in the world. Other topics included an update on AI; the work of the BEIC; rising feed costs and their implications; advertising, media coverage and the increase in total egg sales in 2007; the updated Lion Code, the new Zoonoses legislation, and other welfare issues; and finally a brief look at developments in world trading conditions and steps that are needed to ensure the UK retains its share of the market in the future. In short, Mark provided clarification on each of the many issues that are impacting on producers at the moment.

It then fell to Simon Twigger, Business Unit Director, Fresh Foods, J Sainsbury plc, to speak on 'Free Range ... being different at Sainsbury's'. After showing archive video footage of eggs being collected by Sainsbury's in 1964 and talking about the early days of the business, Simon moved on to current trends amongst consumers and Sainsbury's commitment to providing them with the healthy, safe, fresh and tasty food at fair prices. He went on to explain the company's policy of sourcing with integrity, and illustrated the ways in which the retailer is working to support British agriculture, highlighting a number of initiatives introduced by Sainsbury's in the last two years to assist fruit growers and the dairy industry. Having provided statistics that demonstrate a strong consumer trend towards free range and particularly organic eggs, Simon went into more details about egg sales and the development of the very successful Woodland Eggs brand. He concluded by a brief look at the supply chain and an affirmation of Sainsbury's commitment to Free Range through the Woodland brand.

Barry Jackson, Managing Director of EggSell, was the final speaker, and his presentation was entitled 'Supply Chain Vision'. Barry gave a historical perspective of egg production and egg retailing, tracing the industry from the days when the farmer's wife kept a few chickens to provide her with a small income, to its development into a serious commercial operation. He reminded the audience of some of the significant events that changed the marketplace – for instance, the shortfall in production that led to the introduction of battery methods; the very first supermarket; eggs becoming a free market commodity in 1971; the demise of regional brands in favour of supermarkets' own labels; and – inevitably – Edwina Curry. As mentioned in last month's 'Ranger', EggSell has recently conducted a shoppers survey outside farm shops and local stores, and he revealed the full results of this survey. These findings provided much food for thought, in that responses given by the consumers in this survey suggested that their views differed markedly from the views of the more price-conscious shoppers who are<

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