I think the PIP’s (Poultry Industry Programme) retail supply chain visit has been the best so far – although I may be a little biased being an egg producer myself.
You might be wondering why it was so good and that is because we were walked through the processed egg supply chain; visited the UK’s largest fresh chilled food manufacturer; were treated to a guided tour of a Morrisons store; and (not to mention) served lunch by a lovely lady called Jan at the Morrisons Victoria café.
Eye-opening factory tour
The manufacturing site we visited is called Farmers Boy Greenside in Bradford, which is operated by Myton Food Group.
It first started production in 1980 and now runs 24/7, and has since grown to become a business employing 1,400 employees across six departments (bacon, sausages, cooked meats, quiches, pies, and cheese).
I was interested in its quiche section not only because it includes eggs in the ingredients, but also because I love eating quiche!
The factory produces 4,000 tonnes of quiche each year, which means they use 12 tonnes of liquid egg each week, all supplied from Chippindale Foods’ packing station, which we had viewed the previous day. The site tour made me feel like I was on an episode of Inside the Factory.
“Reflecting on the visit, I have learned more about the different routes my eggs may go to reach the consumer.”
PIP 2024/5 member Lucy Hinch
The scale, automation and sheer number of people was phenomenal.
Beyond quiche, the factory also manufactures everyone’s favourite Christmas dinner staple: pigs in blankets. It was unbelievable that, still to this day, every pig in blanket must be wrapped by hand as the automation just isn’t available.
In the run up to Christmas, 48 members of staff were required to roll the pigs up manually.
Behind the aisles
Following an eye-opening tour of the factory, we visited the local Morrisons to see eggs in store and what the shop does to boost sales.
I was amazed when the store manager explained that one of the issues they face is shoppers swapping premium brand eggs into saver brand packaging.
It was also interesting to see how different the Bradford store was to my local in Stamford.
For instance, Bradford has a dedicated Halal butcher counter. This showed how retailers adapt to different demographics of shoppers.
To complete our exploration of the egg supply chain, it seemed only right that we enjoyed a lovely lunch at the Morrisons café ahead of our journeys back to reality and the farm.
Reflections
Now I am back home and packing eggs, reflecting on the visit, I have learned more about the different routes my eggs may go to reach the consumer.
I often only think about eggs as whole eggs in the supermarkets; however this visit highlighted there is the whole other side of liquid egg and manufacturing to consider, which is less visible to the consumer.
I would like to thank Myton Food Group and Morrisons for an amazing insight into the egg and retail supply chain.
