PoultryWorld: Egg business expansion looms as Noble Foods diversifies its offerings

The UK’s largest free-range egg business is to expand its consumer foods business with a multi-million-pound investment into an added-value manufacturing site.

Noble Foods has announced that this summer it will open its doors to an innovative culinary site in Leicestershire, East Midlands, marking a further move beyond its traditional shell egg business. The company has also recently made acquisitions in the animal feed and agriculture sectors.

The 10,000 sqm site has the potential to use more than 1.6 million eggs per week and will be aimed at the retail, quick service restaurant and wholesale sectors with foods such as omelettes, egg bites and frittatas made at the site.

Up to 150 jobs will be created in the opening phase at the plant, which has been making high-quality desserts.

Making eggs more accessible

Will Cadbury, Noble Foods added value business lead, said the growth aligned with the company’s mission to make eggs more accessible on a broader scale, catering to all meal occasions and consumer preferences: “We already know that eggs are one of the most versatile and nutritious foods, with the lowest carbon output of any animal protein. This aligns brilliantly with our purpose to ‘better nourish people, animals and planet’, and our investment will really help to accelerate that by providing more eggs for more people on more occasions.”

David Parker, commercial development chef at Noble Foods, will play a key role in steering the added-value venture forwards. “This investment is an incredible addition to our capabilities and will open more opportunities for cooked egg products across the retail and OOH markets. We are lucky to supply one of nature’s most nutrient dense foods which can work across all meal occasions. By combining food trends, along with category and marketing expertise, we are gearing up to launch exciting new meal and snack solutions for the UK consumer market.”