Yahoo – AFP,
John Biers, 31 May 2014
Empty egg white cartons sit on a book shelf next to a ceramic chicken at the Deb El processing plant on May 29, 2014 in Thompsonville, New York |
Rising
consumer interest in healthy eating and animal welfare is beginning to scramble
the US egg business.
The price
of egg whites has nearly tripled to record levels since early 2013 following
moves by McDonald's and other fast-food giants to introduce egg-white menu
items to appeal to cholesterol-focused customers.
Meanwhile,
egg producers are spending millions of dollars to add more hens for producing
organic and cage-free eggs. A catalyst behind that is a California law that
takes effect in 2015 that aims to address inhumane conditions for the birds.
The shifts
are the latest sign of the rising interest in the United States towards
healthier and organic foods, evident in supermarkets and restaurants, including
an initiative by leading retailer Wal-Mart to sell discounted organic foods in
US stores.
Yet food
experts say the trends should not be exaggerated, noting, for example, that
industrial eggs remain the norm.
The organic
chicken flock, which is by definition also cage-free, stood at five percent of
the US market as of August 2013, while the total cage-free flock was 8.1 percent,
according to the American Egg Board, a trade group.
The organic
and cage-free markets "have plenty of room to grow, but as long as these
eggs cost more -- which they do -- they are likely to remain small,"
Marion Nestle, an expert on food studies and public health at New York
University, said in an email.
Boom in
egg white demand
Industry
players describe current conditions in the egg-white market as unprecedented.
"I've
been in this business close to 40 years and it's never been like this,"
said Elliot Gibber, president of Deb El Food Products, which manufactures and
distributes egg whites and other egg products.
Prices have
surged since McDonald's in April 2013 introduced the Egg White Delight
McMuffin, a move that was followed by new egg-white dishes at Dunkin Donuts and
other leading chains.
"Everybody's
sort of jumping on it," said Rick Brown, executive vice president at Usner
Barry, a food price information service.
Part of the
challenge is that demand for egg yolks, used in ice cream, mayonnaise, pasta
and some other goods, has not kept pace with egg whites.
Deb El
Food's Gibber said it is not profitable to boost egg production for the purpose
of increasing egg-white supply.
"You
can't just turn a button and make more egg whites," he said. "When
the chicken lays the egg it comes out two-thirds egg white and one-third
yolk."
But Deb El
Food is building new hen farms to add about 50,000 more birds that can produce organic
eggs, as well as a couple of hundred thousand more cage-free birds. The firm
currently has 2.5 million chickens.
Cal-Maine
Foods, the largest producer and marketer of shell eggs in the United States, is
building cage-free facilities in Texas and Kentucky and expanding an organic
site in Kansas as part of a $100 million investment.
"We're
seeing more demand, particularly for our specialty eggs," said Cal-Maine
chief financial officer Tim Dawson.
California
voters approved in a 2008 referendum a law which requires egg producers to
provide egg-laying hens cages that allow them to lay down, stand up, fully
extend their limbs and turn around freely. A subsequent California law extended
the requirements to producers in other states that sell eggs in California.
Egg
producers and other parties have filed legal challenges to block the law from
taking effect, but have thus far been unsuccessful.
Leading
chains like Burger King and Dunkin' Donuts have announced plans to only use
cage-free eggs.
Jennifer
Fearing, a deputy director at the Humane Society in California, predicted
specialty eggs would soon take up a bigger portion of the egg market.
"As
people become more aware, they don't want to support abusive industries and
abusive practice," Fearing said.
Cal-Maine's
Dawson believes consumers should have the choice to buy cage-free and other
specialty eggs, but he opposes legislative mandates.
"We
don't support increasing restrictions on housing systems," Dawson said.
"All of those restrictions generally increase the cost of producing
eggs."
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