Egg replacer sales set to double, says ingredients firm

Arla Foods Ingredients is forecasting a 100 per cent increase in sales of its egg replacers this year, as a result of egg shortages caused by new European animal welfare legislation.

In 2011, the Denmark-based company – the ingredients division of dairy firm Arla Foods – helped to replace the equivalent of 20,000 tonnes of whole liquid eggs through sales of its Nutrilac egg replacers to the bakery industry.

But, based on sales data for the first three months of this year, it now expects volumes in 2012 to reach the equivalent of 40,000 tonnes of liquid whole eggs – enough to replace a total of 800 million liquid eggs in bakery applications.

Arla Foods Ingredients is also forecasting that overall turnover in its bakery division will double this year.

Experts at Arla Foods Ingredients believe the main reason for this surge in sales is the introduction of the EU’s Welfare of Laying Hens Directive at the start of the year. This banned the use of cramped battery cages, obliging egg producers to use larger ‘enriched’ cages that allow hens more space to perch and move.

However, as many as 13 EU countries have admitted their egg industries are not ready to meet the new requirements. As a result, supplies of legal eggs across Europe have tightened, leading to soaring prices and hitting the bakery industry hard.
“The impact of the Welfare of Laying Hens Directive on egg prices has been huge, and as a result many bakery companies have been switching to egg replacers as a more cost-effective alternative,” says
John Gelley, sales director for EU bakery at Arla Foods Ingredients. “The first quarter of this year has seen a big spike in sales of our egg replacers and, since market prices for eggs show no signs of softening, we anticipate this trend will continue.”