06/06/2026
In the news this week..
Warning - I'm on my soap box you might want to grab a ☕️
Sainsbury's announced they're stopping selling brown eggs in favour of more sustainable white eggs which has caused a bit of a stir on social media!
To me, this only highlights the disconnect between the consumer and where their food comes from. This is two way as I would also say there is a disconnect between farmers and the end consumer. Farmers generally supply a market, packer or proccesor and they supply a product to the required specification and that is what they get paid on, generally being a price taker. This specification generally doesn't pay any reward for producing food to a higher nutritional, flavour or even environmental gain.
So the announcement by Sainsbury's doesn't come as a surprise to me as this is following in the foot steps of other supermarkets on the continent. From a consumer perspective I can understand surely it should be their choice what coloured eggs they buy. This really is a supermarket trying to step out from their competitors on sustainability grounds and it has certainly brought the issue into discussion.
Net zero, love it or hate? I sit on the fence a bit with many so called environmental claims and would go as far to say there is a lot of green washing out there and false claims. That said, we absolutely should be reducing our foot print. There are finite resources for a growing population. Net zero to me means saving money on energy inputs like fuel and electricity. That saves us money which is good for not only my pocket but my staff and ultimately an efficient industry is better for the consumer with lower prices.
White eggs then? Sainsbury's have got it spot on here. After going travelling to several countries in 2015 as part of my Nuffield scholarship I recognised the benefits of white egg layers speaking to various farmers. I then questioned why you don't see white eggs in the UK. Well actually the UK was predominately a white egg
market until round about the 60/70s (before my time!) so really they just went out of fashion, brown eggs must be healthier 🤔. Ten years ago less than 1% of the UK flock were white egg layers and these all went into processing. So my mission became to sell white eggs (like Sainsbury's) - it was a no brainer! I found the consumer loved them despite the feeling in the industry that 'it'll no take off'. Today 13% of the UK flock is white and there is actually a shortage of white hens.
White egg layers lay stronger shells so this reduces food waste as less cracked eggs and the hens can be kept typically an extra 20 weeks compared to brown egg layers. They are slightly smaller so eat less and we find much more resilient so less mortality. In a nut shell you achieve more and better quality eggs from less feed.
Consumers/farmers will always have a difference in opinions but for me I love my white eggs and my white hens, they look so much more elegant than a brown bird.
Farmer G
PS - I don't supply Sainsbury's
