July 28, 2010

Indian farmers set to launch branded eggs
 

Four second generation farmers in the Barwala poultry belt, near Khanna in Punjab, have decided to launch three variants of branded eggs.

The farmers have indigenously developed a technology to produce three kinds of eggs-toddler egg (small in size but rich in protein), jumbo egg (bigger than normal egg and higher protein content) and double-decker egg (double the size of a normal egg and having twice as many nutrients).

These eggs will be rich in protein, containing less fat and will be picked fresh from bio-secured layer farms. Since the product is considered to be healthier, they will be costlier than the ordinary eggs. These will be sold in packets of six and priced at INR5-6 (US$0.11-0.13) per egg.

Branded eggs currently account for about 3% of the total produced in the country. India is the fourth largest egg producer in the world, producing 48 billion eggs per annum. So far, the branded-egg market is dominated by poultry firms like Suguna and Keggsfarm. These companies retail their eggs between INR6 (US$0.13) and INR8 (US$0.17) per piece.

"Small poultry farms do not have the wherewithal to enter this segment. It thus occurred to us that we could work on the research and development jointly and enter this segment," said one of the farmers in the group that developed the branded egg.

Interestingly, these farmers have decided to share their technique for preparing these branded eggs with other small poultry farmers. "Recently, we had launched a website called www.pappak.com, which caters to the poultry needs of small farmers. As of now, over 2,000 farmers are associated with this website, which gives the live rates of egg, broiler, poultry feed, poultry health and disease updates, weather forecasts and latest trends about poultry management," said another member of the group.