Noble Foods, the U.K.’s largest egg producer and perhaps best known for its Happy Egg Co. retail brand, launched its first brand in the foodservice sector, The Great British Egg Co., at the end of January 2020.
Noble’s food service division currently accounts for 11% of the company’s sales and Noble has ambitious plans to grow the division’s market share. Mark Clements spoke to Steve Hall, Noble’s business unit controller to find out more.
Clements: When did Noble Foods first enter the foodservice sector?
Hall: Noble Foods dates back to the 1920's when the Dean family established the business within shell egg production. The Noble Egg Innovations division, as it is now more commonly recognized, was established 50 years ago to produce liquid and added value egg products for the U.K. wholesale and manufacturing industries and is an integral part of Noble Foods.
Clements: Why have you decided to launch a brand now?
Hall: The reason we’ve launched The Great British Egg Co. is to unite all our innovation under one brand.
Ultimately, we want the brand to be recognized for innovation, quality and sustainability to achieve the trust and confidence of our clients as the U.K.’s number one supplier of innovative egg products and solutions.
As we continue to grow, we will add more innovation, tailored to our clients’ needs, which will allow us to invest in new technologies to drive categories and concepts further.
Steve Hall, Noble Foods’ business unit controller, notes that creation of a brand will help to bring its foodservice range visibility and build trust with clients. | Courtesy Noble Foods
Clements: Which were your first products to enter foodservice?
Hall: Initially, our core product range was derived from the process of cracking and pasteurizing liquid egg, which was whole egg, separated egg whites and yolks and boiled eggs. We have now extended our range to include concepts such as poached eggs, scrambled egg bites, scrambled egg burgers, gluten free Yorkshire puddings and cooked scrambled egg, alongside a range of tetra pack liquid egg products, suitable for all caterers.
Clements: Who are your main customers in the foodservice channel?
Hall: Noble Egg Innovations has long-term relationships with recognized leading businesses such as McDonalds, bakery chain Greggs, restaurant and pub chain Mitchell & Butlers, wholesalers Bidfood and Brakes, Hilton Hotels and many others.
Our products are suitable across all areas of the foodservice channel. For example, we produce egg mayonnaise and boiled eggs for the quick service restaurants (QSR) channels.
Our plain egg burgers and egg bites have been specifically developed for the education sector, providing a reduced-salt scrambled egg option that hits U.K. Food Standards Agency guidelines and allows the caterer to provide children with high protein, healthy free-range eggs within the canteen.
Our poached eggs sit across various channels, but are a great option for pubs, restaurants and hotels that lack the time or skill set within the kitchen to produce a high-quality poached egg every time.
More recently, we have launched gluten free Yorkshire pudding, produced using British free-range eggs. These products will be seen across pubs and restaurant menus throughout the U.K. in Spring 2020.
We are also providing concepts around “on the go” products that allow our clients to use our liquid scrambled eggs, poached eggs and egg bites within the travel and forecourt sector. We are teaming up with various supply chain partners within the U.K. to develop the concepts and ideas as we speak!
Clements: How do you develop new products?
Hall: All of our products and concept development is based on research that we carry out within each foodservice sector. For example, we created egg burgers and bites for education, which was born through research and conversations with operators that deal specifically with local education authorities.
We based our innovation around the feedback that we had, which allowed us to get the products to fit nutritionally, operationally and commercially. It’s a recipe for success.
We currently have an in-house, new product development team that has over 30 years’ experience in developing egg products.
Clements: What are now the main drivers in the foodservice sector?
Hall: Our tastes have evolved and the new generations are driving that change.
We want healthy products that taste great and can offer variations for all diets.
As an industry, we are hitting all the expectations of the consumer; our diversity of cuisine while taking specific dietary requirements into account is phenomenal.
We also expect food to be available wherever we go. As we are living busier lifestyles and times have changed, we don’t adhere to set mealtimes anymore.
The QSR sector recognized this and is capitalizing on these trends with new concepts and products we aimed at specific mealtimes throughout the day. That’s where The Great British Egg Co. comes in; we are driving change and innovation around breakfast, brunch and lunch menus throughout various markets.
Poached eggs have proved to be an adaptable offering, fitting into the bar and restaurant sectors as well as being suitable for food on the go. | Courtesy Noble Foods
Continuing success for Noble Foods’ the happy egg co. brand
