Fury at French free range imports

Producers have acted angrily to the news that free range eggs produced in France are about to hit the shelves of UK retailers.

The shock news was delivered at a producer roadshow in Exeter, hosted jointly by Stonegate and Deans Foods, where Noble Foods boss Michael Kent told producers an acute shortage of home-produced eggs had reluctantly forced them to look outside the UK for supplies. Ironically, the blow comes at the same time official figures reveal there are now over 10 million birds on range in the UK.

"We are far from happy with the situation but the choice is a simple one," said Mr Kent. "We either fail to meet retailers' orders or we import the eggs. If we settle for the first option then retailers will not leave shelves empty and there are others out there who will get the eggs for them. It is better that we get involved—that way we can at least have some control over it."

Mr Kent insisted that it was a temporary measure and the priority was to encourage UK producers to increase supplies.

"The main reason we are in this situation is that poor returns to producers has brought expansion in the free range and organic sector to a virtual standstill while the demand has continued growing at around 10 per cent each year.

"We have got to get that expansion back on track," went on Mr Kent, "and that's only going to happen by putting more money in producers' pockets.

"That message has now hit home with retailers and we are currently negotiating for a significant increase for producers."

According to Mr Kent retailers are nervous about stocking foreign eggs due to possible adverse publicity. He would not reveal which retailers would be the first to put them on the shelf but the Ranger can confirm it will be Somerfield. With packers now short-delivering on a regular basis—and the crisis set to worsen in the run-up to Christmas—all retailers are understood to have made enquiries about sourcing eggs from outside the UK.

According to Mr Kent, the French eggs are being sourced for around the same price as UK supplies and will be clearly marked as produced in France.

"They will be in a mixed-weight pack and positioned in store so as not to be in direct competition with existing sales of large and medium free range and organic eggs," he said.

The eggs will be packed in France as Lion registered packing centres in the UK can only handle eggs from Lion farms. The BEIC has already held a special meeting of subscribers to discuss the situation.

"The production farms supplying the packing centre are being inspected regarding quality and salmonella status. The eggs will not fall within the BEIC Lion Egg scheme," Deans has told producers in a letter informing them of the development.

The packer insists it remains totally committed to the Lion scheme. Joint owner of Noble Foods and former chief executive of Deans Foods, Peter Dean, told the Ranger that the move should not be viewed as a weakening of the Lion.

"If anything it has strengthened our support for the Lion scheme and we are considering upping the advertising budget so that we can further push home the Lion Quality message.

"There has never been a greater need for consumers to be aware of the Lion and all it stands for. We need to ensure that the appearance of imported eggs on British supermarket shelves is a brief one."

Whilst fully acknowledging that the decision to source eggs from France will be deeply unpopular with UK producers, Mr Dean nevertheless said they had been left with no alternative.

"I am not happy about it but to continue short-supplying retailers the way we are at the moment risks inflicting long-term damage on our free range business. This was the only viable option."

But BFREPA chairman Tom Vesey has reacted angrily to the news.

"It may well be that Noble Foods now finds itself with no choice but to source eggs from France but the fact remains that this situation should never have been allowed to develop in the first place," said Tom. "It is a result of gross mismanagement of the market.

"For over 12 months now we have been warning both the packers and the retailers that unless producers received more money then the eggs would dry up. It gives me no satisfaction whatsoever to see that our prophecy has proved correct.

"The important thing now is to try and get out of this mess and that's only going to happen when producers are paid a worthwhile amount for their eggs so that the supply tap is turned back on.

"But my biggest concern is that now that imported eggs have found their way over here the barriers are down and it could be very difficult to get them back up again."

Another BFREPA member said the arrival of French eggs on these shores was the worst news he'd heard in the 20 years he had been producing free range eggs.

"One of the main reasons I have invested in free range was the fact that unlike most other agricultural sectors in the UK, it was unaffected by foreign imports," said the 60,000-bird producer who did not want to be named. "That situation no longer exists and I fear it can only mean more difficult times lie ahead."

More free range news at www.bfrepa.co.uk