PoultryWorld: Spain’s slow but steady recovery after hen cage ban

The Spanish egg industry has witnessed some turbulent years. Production was hit hard with the banning of conventional cages in 2012, which made up 95% of housing systems. Enriched cages were initially favoured, but became less important while new barn and free-range systems were increasingly adopted. Recovery was slow but steady, with current production at an all-time high.

Directive 1999/74/EC forced the Spanish egg industry to change the housing system for laying hens in 2012. Until then, 95% of hens in the country were kept in cage batteries, but enriched cages, barn and free-range as well as organic housing systems had to be established. Enriched cages, which were initially favoured, became less important while new barn and free-range systems were increasingly adopted, not least due to the decision by leading food retailers not to sell eggs produced in cage systems any longer.

The transformation of the housing systems resulted in a sharp reduction of the laying hen inventory and declining egg production for several years. The industry has recovered from the blow faster than expected and even exceeded former production volumes. The Covid-19 pandemic had far-reaching impacts on the per capita consumption of eggs and self-sufficiency in Spain. The lower domestic demand forced the industry to increase its exports, as egg production remained stable. New markets were developed within and outside the EU, ensuring a prosperous future.

Impact of the cage ban

Even though laying hen husbandry and egg production only contributed less than 5% to the value of animal production and added only 1.8% to the value created by agriculture in 2021, they played an important role in the nutrition of the Spanish population and in foreign trade involving agricultural products.

When the EU directive 1999/74/EC became effective in 2012, banning conventional cages had far-reaching impacts on the Spanish egg industry. Figure 1 shows that laying hen inventory decreased by 8.2 million birds between 2010 and 2012 (17.7%). In the following years, inventory recovered and reached over 47 million in 2021.

 

Between 2017 and 2021, housing systems changed considerably. While enriched cages decreased by 16%, alternative systems increased considerably, in particular the barn system (Table 1). The share of alternative housing systems in laying hen husbandry increased from 12.2% in 2017 to 26.7% in 2021. The main driving forces behind this dynamic development were discounters and, to a lesser degree, supermarket chains. Lidl stopped selling eggs produced in enriched cages in 2018, and other food retailers followed, some hesitantly, however.

It is worth noting that despite the rapid increase, the share of alternative housing systems is still much lower than the EU (27) average, which reached 55.1% in 2021. The sharp increase of the barn system is not only due to increasing domestic demand but also to fast-growing exports to EU member countries where the consumption of alternative eggs is growing fast. In contrast to several EU member countries, the share of organic housing systems in Spain is still very low (only 1.6%).

Banning conventional cages also resulted in a sharp decrease in the number of egg farms, from 1,446 to only 1,175 between 2010 and 2012. In the following years, the number of farms grew remarkably and reached a new high in 2021 at 1,446 farms. This growth is a consequence of the changes in the housing systems. New farms with free-range and organic systems with smaller flock sizes began production, mainly for the domestic market.

The drastic decrease of the laying hen inventory between 2010 and 2012 and the changes in the housing systems resulted in a modified spatial pattern of laying hen husbandry and egg production. Castilla La Mancha, Aragón and Comunidad Valenciana grew in importance while all other provinces fell.

Impact on egg production

The sharp decrease of the laying hen flocks between 2010 and 2012 caused a decline of egg production from 13.3 billion to 11.4 billion (14.5%). It was not until 2017 that the former production volume was again reached (Figure 2). Since then, egg production has been hovering between 13.1 and 13.9 billion.

The self-sufficiency rate fluctuated considerably as can be seen in Figure 3. A remarkable decrease in per capita consumption from 16kg in 2016 to only 13kg in 2021 resulted in a considerable increase of the self-sufficiency rate to 134.9% and, as will be shown in the next section, in growing egg exports. The Covid-19 epidemic led to lower domestic demand because of hotel and restaurant lockdowns and a considerable reduction in the number of tourists.

Impact on foreign egg trade

The necessary transformation of the housing systems for laying hens not only caused a decline in egg production but had impacted foreign trade in eggs and egg products (Figure 4). Between 2010 and 2012, the export volume fell from 144,287 to 116,784 tonnes (almost 20%). EU member countries accounted for 95% of overall exports in those years. Closer examination of Figure 5 shows that exports to EU member countries fluctuated considerably between 2012 and 2017, while non-EU countries gained in importance and exports reached a volume of almost 50,000 tonnes in 2015. The share of the EU in the total export volume decreased to 79.7% in 2016 and remained in the lower to mid-80s in the following years.

Exports began to grow considerably from 2018 on and, with 283,663 tonnes in 2021, reached a preliminary record; non-EU countries accounted for 18.9% in the total export volume. The fast increase of exports to EU member countries is closely related to the Covid-19 pandemic. Domestic demand fell considerably because of lockdowns and the slump in the tourism industry. As egg production remained stable despite the lower demand, the growing surplus had to be exported, either to other EU member countries or to third countries.

Table 2 documents the changing shares of the 6 leading EU member countries of destination in egg exports in 2018 and 2021. Their share in the overall export volume decreased from 61.7% to only 52.5% despite growth of 46,413 tonnes. This indicates that Spanish egg producers tried to find new markets for their surplus.

Egg imports from EU countries fluctuated considerably between 31,000 tonnes in 2010 and 77,000 tonnes in 2018, but remained at a high level from 2018 onwards. Egg products, both liquid and dried, gained in importance. Imports from non-EU countries were negligible.