Freedom Food to work closer with egg sector

Pictured: Freedom Food’s chief executive Leigh Grant

With Freedom Food’s role in the egg sector under scrutiny, their man at the top, Leigh Grant, admits that the organisation needs to work more closely with the industry.

Mr Grant, in an interview with the Ranger, said: “The egg industry’s support for the scheme is very important to us and if we are to build on past successes it is essential we work more closely with the sector.”

He also wants to see a change in approach when it comes to implementing new standards.

“The standards need to be measured on ’welfare outcomes’ and not only demonstrate to consumers that the scheme has delivered welfare improvements, but also demonstrate potential economic benefits for producers.

“There’s simply no point,” he said, “in developing new standards for the sake of it unless we can prove they can bring about real benefits. We need to develop the assessment process and start looking more closely at the effect the standards actually have on the animals themselves, as well as checking that individual standards are met.”

In a project involving researchers from Bristol University the RSPCA are currently assessing the impact of the scheme on hen welfare. And future monitoring of scheme members could be based on looking more closely at general flock health, productivity and key welfare indicators.

As for producers’ grumbles about over-auditing, Mr Grant can empathise with this view and is eager to reduce the burden.

“I still believe Freedom Food can work together with the Lion scheme and combine the auditing process. This is something that has happened to a large degree in other livestock sectors but we haven’t made much progress with eggs.”

Mr Grant pledged to continue talks with the BEIC on the issue, saying that not only would joint audits make life easier for producers but also reduce the cost on the industry.

Suspensions of members from the Freedom Food scheme is another area where Mr Grant wants to see improved communication with producers. He believes that feeding back details—for instance through the pages of the Ranger—would be a proactive move and could help prevent other producers similarly transgressing the rules.

“We are not talking about a name and shame policy but it would be useful for other members to know why these situations occasionally arise and how they can be avoided,” said Mr Grant.

Responding to the criticism of Freedom Food reported in the July edition of the Ranger—where it was questioned whether the industry needed the scheme in light of the Lion code—Mr Grant does acknowledge the success of the BEIC scheme and its recognition by consumers.

“But the 50-year-old Lion logo does have something of a head start on 10-year-old Freedom Food,” he said, “and the survey details reported in the Ranger should not be viewed in isolation.

“Ethical food buying is showing significant growth with over half of consumers now concerned about the welfare of animals bred for food and there is no reason to believe that this trend will not continue apace. The egg industry has already seen alternative egg sales almost double from 14.5% in 1994, when Freedom Food started, to 28.3% in 2004.

“Freedom Food is the only assurance scheme whose primary focus is animal welfare and it has the backing of the world's oldest and largest animal welfare organisation, the RSPCA.

“It provides a clear point of difference for alternative egg producers—who 'share' the Lion code with caged egg producers—and because it is entirely independent from the industry it has a unique positioning that is likely to become increasingly important to consumers.”

And Mr Grant refutes the suggestion that Freedom Food does little to promote the scheme to consumers. He said that in the last six months alone advertisements have been placed in a range of magazines, including the Observer Food Monthly, BBC’s Good Food and Good Housekeeping magazines, Prima, Olive and the Radio Times. Looking forward a national press campaign is planned for this autumn, part of which will focus directly on eggs.

“Promotional activity has also been carried out within the egg category in Safeway/Morrisons and the Co-op, with further activity planned for Asda,” said Mr Grant.

And his message to those egg producers questioning the need for Freedom Food? “Reflect on the achievements of the past ten years, listen over the next few months to our future plans and watch us deliver them,” he said.