ABOVE: Egg Farmers of Australia Board and team members in Sydney – outgoing Queensland interim director Greg Quinn, new Queensland director Andy Crocker, chair Bede Burke, organisation coordinator Kylie Jackson, Western Australia director Ian Wilson, Victoria director Meg Parkinson, NSW Farmers egg president Brett Langfield, the author, media and corporate communications adviser Christopher Lawson and South Australia director Darren Letton.
The recent Australian Egg Industry Forum in Sydney was well attended by egg farmers from across the country.
A key message to come from the event was that egg consumption was forecast to increase dramatically in coming years.
In 2023, Australians ate 280 eggs each on average.
Research showed that in future years, as our nation’s population rises to 28 million, this figure would increase to 300 eggs per person per year.
In the current cost of living crisis, eggs remain one of the most affordable food proteins, with many health benefits.
The forum was told that migrants in particular played an important role in the rise of egg consumption, bringing with them to Australia, new ways to flavour and cook eggs, which helps to maintain their popularity on breakfast, lunch and dinner tables.
Given the rising increase in consumption and strong demand for such an affordable protein-rich ingredient, the forum heard that by 2025, egg consumption would outstrip supply in Australia by about 15 million eggs.
As our population increases and consumer demand for eggs rises, some of the challenges in expanding egg production include government regulations, a push by supermarkets to phase out cage eggs, the escalating cost of building products and a lack of available land to expand egg farms, as major cities such as Sydney continue to encroach on valuable land that was once zoned rural.
Meanwhile, the Egg Farmers of Australia Board held its final meeting for 2023 in Sydney recently, and afterwards the annual general meeting.
Also, I would like to congratulate the three winners of the Egg Farmers of Australia industry recognition awards.
South Australia’s Days Eggs employee Jessica Spencer was named the Egg Farmers of Australia Young Egg Industry Achiever of the Year.
Former Queensland United Egg Producers chief executive officer John Coward received the Egg Farmers of Australia Industry Leader Excellence Award for extensive service to the nation’s egg industry.
And Australia’s chief veterinary officer Dr Mark Schipp was presented with the Egg Farmers of Australia Collaborative Recognition Award.
This award is presented to a government official in appreciation of their assistance to the nation’s egg industry.
The prestigious annual awards program recognises the work of people connected to Australia’s important commercial egg sector, which has one of the lowest carbon footprints of any food protein.