Hopes pinned on British Egg Week to lift sector gloom

UK egg producers hope this year’s British Egg Week celebrating 50 years of British Lion eggs will lift the gloom surrounding the current rising costs.

The industry’s biggest ever campaign, 8-14 October will include national TV advertising for the first time.

Celebrations of the golden anniversary will be launched at the House of Commons on Monday 8 October by the UK ‘celebrity chef’ Marguerite Patten OBE. She will then be joined by the world’s fastest omelette-maker, American chef Howard Helmer, in a tour of UK schools to recreate her famous cooking demonstrations of the 1950s.

Throughout British Egg Week there will be TV appearances by both celebrity egg chefs, recipe features in top consumer magazines, and in store support from major retailers including Asda, Morrisons and Co-op.

British Lion eggs will also feature on menus in the House of Commons during the Week.

Despite reduced profitability facing producers, 2007 has seen retail egg sales increase by 3% in volume this year. The British Egg Industry Council (BEIC) attributes the rise to the marketing of eggs as a healthy, modern food.