Partnership approach to liquid egg business

We wanted to take the uncertainty out of the market and guarantee a sustainable supply,” said Paul Denney, head of purchasing at Pork Farms.

Approaching supply chain consultant EFFP (European Food and Farming Partnerships), the company was looking for a collaborative alternative to its existing supply chain and needed egg producers and an egg processor.

“We identified egg producers in Yorkshire with the right mindset and developed a cost of production model (COP) with them,” said Paul Rhodes from EFFP.

Marketing co-op EggSell, based in Beverley, East Yorkshire, was a newly formed group of more than 25 egg producers that was already working with EFFP and looking for the chance to work more closely with customers.

“We had worked with EFFP before as they’d helped set up the group and they knew we were looking for a long-term trade relationship,” said Barry Jackson, chief executive of EggSell.

The main benefit for egg producers, according to Mr Jackson, is the stability and longevity of the relationship, which doesn’t exist in traditional supply chains. “We wanted to be able to plan two or three years in advance.”

EFFP facilitated discussions to align their individual objectives, develop commercial ways of working and start to form a relationship.

Processor required
The second part of the collaboration was finding a processor that could turn the shell egg from EggSell into the liquid egg that was required by Pork Farms.

EFFP looked at a number of processors, but the important detail was to find a company interested in working collaboratively with the necessary accreditations to meet Pork Farm’s requirements.

A quarter of egg in the UK is used as processed product, so there was no shortage of potential suppliers, but EFFP identified family business Bumble Hole Foods, in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, as the perfect partner.

“They had a positive attitude, were well set up, willing to invest and open to discuss working in a different way from the norm,” said Mr Rhodes