Packer goes for the ‘look-good’ factor

If producers were of the mind that their businesses couldn’t possibly be subjected to further scrutiny, then Deans’ latest auditing procedure will come as something of a shock.

The company is introducing a ’farm standards audit’ which will focus on the general standard and appearance of their suppliers’ premises.

In a letter to producers, Deans describe this new criteria as “standards that a member of the general public, a customer for your eggs, or a retailer, would take notice of during a visit”.

The move is being driven by the fact that the packer’s supermarket customers can descend on a randomly chosen farm with very little notice.

“Clearly, if the visit goes badly, it can jeopardise not just the producer whose farm was chosen, but also other producers and the Deans business overall,” says Deans.


But contract supplies manager John Holt assures producers the auditing procedure will not involve any extra visits.

“It will be incorporated into our own Lion code audit which we already carry out twice a year,” says Mr Holt. “In order to get a fair impression we initially need to score farms twice, six months apart, to include flocks at two different seasons of the year.”

According to Deans, the results will be analysed to identify the areas on each farm that may require attention. The packer will then work with individual producers to rectify or improve any specific issues.

“Those producers who consistently score high marks in all areas,” says Deans, “will eventually be subject to less frequent assessments, with the focus shifting to help those who need to make improvements.”

Although individual farm scores—which will range from one to five—will remain confidential, producers will be able to compare their own scores with the highest, lowest and average achieved nationally.

“The situation occasionally arises on a farm where standards are not as high as they could be but the producer is still under the impression that they are doing a good job,” says Mr Holt. “By seeing how their farm scores against other Deans’ suppliers will hopefully encourage them to make the necessary improvements.”

Producers’ farms will be judged on criteria such as the appearance of the entrance and approach to the farm, where top marks will be gained for a “well maintained drive with solid surface, neat verges, fences and hedges”. When it comes to egg loading facilities, the highest scoring farms will have “a clean concrete apron in front of the house, large enough for a lorry to stand on”.


But the focus will also be on the birds’ environment, both inside and out. Conditions immediately outside the popholes will be checked where marks will be awarded for attempts to keep the birds’ feet clean by using stone or wire mesh platforms. Actively encouraging ranging behaviour will also attract high marks. The hens themselves will be scored according to feather cover and general health.

“We are not expecting producers to score full marks on everything but ideally farms should be achieving at least 60 per cent on each item,” says Mr Holt. “And of course we will encourage higher scores.”

Deans stresses it is not asking producers to spend large sums of money on improvements and says many of the changes will be cosmetic or involve housekeeping issues.