Noble Foods announces 6p/dozen egg price rise
14th October 2022
In response to rising cost pressures in the sector, Noble Foods has announced a price increase of six pence per dozen eggs for all its free-range and organic producers to demonstrate its commitment to “putting producers first”.
The announcement comes amid challenging financial and economic times from one of the UK’s largest suppliers of eggs and fresh food. Taking effect from 8th October, the price rise applies to all Class A eggs (Extra Large, Large, Medium, and Small grades) from free-range and organic producers in the Noble Foods group.
Elaborating on the decision, Graham Atkinson, agriculture director at Noble Foods said: “Our producers are facing turbulent cost pressures, many of which are a knock-on effect from global events. But the resulting inflation issue cannot be ignored. The support and attention must be with our producers, which is why this price increase is so necessary.
“Because we operate long-lasting feed deals across our base, this increase reflects non-feed related inflation elements. I hope it demonstrates our long-term intent to put our producers first.”
According to the company, the current energy crisis has taken a toll on its Milling business unit, since much of the production and delivery processes are heavily energy reliant. However, to provide further support, the Milling business unit will not pass on inflationary costs to producers on pre-agreed Noble Foods scheme or feed link arrangements.
Mr Atkinson also acknowledged government efforts to provide some financial relief to the nation through the energy price cap.
“This may provide our producers with six months’ worth of breathing space,” he said, “but it’s clear we have a responsibility to continue the messages around ‘food self-sufficiency’ and the ‘feeding a nation’ agenda”.
Commenting on the 6p/dz price rise, British Free Range Egg Producers Association CEO Robert Gooch said: “It’s great to see Noble recognise the pressure that producers are under and improve the financial sustainability of their producer base.
“The combination of the price increase and their bespoke pricing models is helping to stabilise the market to the benefit of the whole supply chain”.
