Processing may offer egg producers myriad benefits

Egg processing could offer eggs producers not only a new income stream but greater business stability.

Liquid egg products launched in China during the first half of this year. (Ms. Yunyue, Ly Ja Media)
Liquid egg products launched in China during the first half of this year. (Ms. Yunyue, Ly Ja Media)

The post-COVID-19 era could offer more opportunities for egg producers to take advantage of the market for processed eggs.

The development of small, ready-to-plug, processing units now makes it easier to enter the egg processing sector. While a significant investment may be required to move into processing, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought home the benefits of working together to reach the market. Forming egg producer co-operatives, for example, could facilitate a move into egg processing, which remains underdeveloped in many parts of the world.

In difficult times, egg processing can offer producers more alternatives and flexibility in the products that they offer and the market segments in which they operate.

Egg processing may have traditionally targeted the food service and food industry sectors, however the pandemic has clearly demonstrated the risks of this narrow approach, with many restaurants closed for months.

Think back to the sudden collapse in demand from restaurants and food manufactures for processed eggs that occurred at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic which caused real headaches for some egg producers in North America and Europe.

Those farms dedicated solely to the production of eggs for processing, with inline systems taking eggs directly from the layer house to the processing plant, suffered the most as they sought to find ways to comply with table egg regulations or to find ways of packing their eggs into retail cartons.

Looking beyond the established

The wide range of options obtained through the processing of eggs allows egg farmers and processors to develop new markets segments and therefore reduce their reliance on any single distribution channel.

For many years, liquid eggs and egg products, such as egg white only products, have been the only products available at retail level, mainly in the USA and Canada. The segment has been easier to develop in those countries where shell eggs are sold under refrigeration, facilitating the sale of egg products alongside shell egg cartons. Nevertheless, egg products have been recently introduced at retail level in Australia, the UK, South Korea and China, countries where shell eggs are not typically refrigerated.

From simple liquid eggs, egg processing has evolved into a myriad of new products, fresh and frozen, ranging from the simple hard-boiled egg to a wide range of functional foods where specific nutrients, such as omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, lutein or vitamin D, are added.

Egg processing has also entered the field of further processing with omelets, quiches, easy-to-eat snacks and prepared meals.

In 2018, only approximately 10% of global egg production was processed, turned into, for example, liquid egg products, egg powders, and other transformed products such as boiled eggs. The post COVID-19 era, however, may offer more opportunities for the sector.

 

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