Winners in this year’s Scottish Egg Quality Awards Competition who received their awards at a special ceremony in Perth, were told that the competition had attracted a record number of entries from free range egg producers all over Scotland.
“This competition, now in its 27th year, provides a valuable opportunity for egg producers to promote high quality Scottish products and to raise awareness of the current trends affecting egg production in Scotland,” commented John Cessford, Marketing Manager of ForFarmers, joint organisers with the Scottish Rural College (SRUC). The scope of this year’s competition was illustrated by the organisers having to drive over 3,000 miles to collect eggs from 40 entrants for judging by an independent team at the College, led by Professor Nick Sparks, Head of Animal & Veterinary Sciences.
Stuart Retson, of JSR Services, Blairgowrie, Iain Campbell, ForFarmer’s Account Manager-Poultry Specialist, and Elwyn Lewis, of Hyline UK Ltd. collected the entrants’ eggs from across Scotland. Mr Lewis collected eggs from the Scottish Borders and Lothian areas. He commented that the quality awards recognize many positive aspects of the Scottish egg industry especially those of the Scottish Producer Retailer and that he was very proud to play a part in the event.
Competitors’ eggs were assessed on a number of characteristics including shell quality and thickness, colour, albumen height, yolk quality and inclusions (blood or meat spots). Entries were divided into three categories: Organic, Producer and Producer Retailer. Those with the highest scores in each group were awarded certificates with an overall winner in each category.
Speaking at the awards presentation, Professor Sparks observed that the competition was going from strength to strength and it was particularly interesting to see how closely grouped were the entrants’ scores. This said a lot about the calibre of Scottish producers and the quality of their eggs. This comment was endorsed by Iain Campbell, ForFarmer’s Poultry Specialist who said the value of the competition was highlighted this year by the significant number of new entrants.
Richard Lochhead, Scottish Cabinet Secretary of Rural Affairs, Food and Environment emphasised his delight at the success of the event, saying the awards “are fast becoming a sought-after platform for winners to promote award-winning Scottish produce”.
James Baxter of Leswalt, Dumfries, Vice-Chairman of the British Free Range Egg Producers Association (BFREPA) and one of the Commendation winners in the Producer category, acknowledged the support ForFarmers gave to the Scottish egg industry and the commitment of fellow egg producers. It was also encouraging to see that Scottish producers, with different production systems, from all over Scotland could get together and compete against one another.
Robert Chapman, Managing Director of Farmlay Eggs, Fraserburgh, said the competition was a great showcase for the Scottish egg industry and recognised the hard work put in by producers to produce top quality eggs. He was thrilled to win an “Outstanding” award in the Producer/Retailer category.
Messrs. D. Blyth & Son, Leven, Fife were the overall winners in the Producer/Retailer category. Their success reflected the fact that their eggs were the best that could be produced, not just for competition but foreveryday customers. “This competition shows that there are egg farmers, large and small, all over Scotland, who care about the quality of the eggs they sell and are consistently striving to make them even better,” commented Brian and Linda Blyth.
Neil Munro of BQ Farming Partnership, Buccleuch, winner of the silver quaich (cup) for the Best Producer award, said the success would give a boost to his production team.
Giles Henry of D.G. Henry & Co., Oakwood Mill Farm, Selkirk, the overall winner in the Organic category, said it recognised all the hard work that had been put in to produce the best organic eggs.
Many of the winners use the awards to promote the quality of their eggs. Mike and Liz Armitage of Caithness Free Range Eggs Ltd., near Thurso in Caithness, said they could now advertise their eggs as “award winning” and feature this on the egg boxes.
Kitty Campbell of Kitty Campbell’s Free Range Eggs, Peebles, who won a Commendation in the Producer/Retailer category also stressed the value of the competition as a showcase for top-quality eggs.
Lohmann GB and Hy-Line jointly sponsored the pre-dinner champagne reception with Kenny Shaw of Lohmann GB commenting: “It’s an excellent opportunity for the Scottish egg industry to get together and great to be a part of it. This awards scheme, provides an incentive to producers to strive for quality in order to keep customers and gain new business. It has a lot going for it”.
