With 70 farms and 140 flocks totalling 2 million laying hens supplying the company with eggs, David retains the company’s original ethos to
provide the best habitats for the hens, striving for high environmental and welfare standards alongside profitable production.
Across the farms and packing site, 110 people are employed with salaries amounting to £3 million each year. Four people work within the
company’s agriculture team liaising with suppliers, and St David’s Poultry Team vets are kept on retainer, costing David £10,000 each year.
To reduce reliance on staffing, £840,000 has been invested on several packing robots and egg laser technologically and a further £515,000 on
developing and installing a custom-built bird performance management system to monitor real time data on farms.
Reducing energy usage and carbon emissions is at the forefront of David’s on-farm innovations. With a focus on range enrichment, the
company’s suppliers must plant 20% of their ranges with trees. As a result, 214,000 trees have been planted following guidance from the Woodland Trust.
Solar panels in fields provide shelter for the hens and 200kw of solar energy. 500kw of ground source heat and 200kw of biomass further the
environmental credentials of the company and the energy produced is used to power the egg packing facility, creating a circular climate friendly approach.