Supermarket giant Sainsbury’s have de-listed Soil Association eggs in favour of a further roll-out of the Woodland egg concept.
SA certified ‘Organic Select’ were supplied by Deans Foods and produced on farms using mobile buildings housing small flocks stocked at six birds per metre. As with all SA eggs,
production costs were high which had to be passed on to the consumer.
“Naturally we are disappointed to see the demise of the brand but are pleased that Woodland Organic will be listed in its place,” said Deans’ marketing director Peter Challands.
“Sainsbury’s philosophy is about giving consumers choice and there are other organic eggs in store. While some consumers are turned on by Soil Association products, for the majority organic is organic and they aren’t prepared to pay an additional premium.”
Woodland organic eggs are from farms certified by Organic Farmers & Growers and are now on sale in 187 stores priced at £1.65 for a mixed weight pack.
Sainsbury’s egg buyer Rob Farr commented: “Since we launched the free range Woodland Eggs last year customer demand has increased. Now I hope our many committed organic customers will enjoy this new range of organic eggs.”
Sainsbury’s say thirteen per cent of their customers buy organic eggs and last year they sold 62 million, representing an eight per cent year-on-year growth. For three years running they have been named ‘Organic Supermarket of the Year’ by the Soil Association.
Soil Association eggs can now only be found on the shelves of one major retailer, Waitrose, where the eggs are supplied by Stonegate from Columbian Blacktail flocks.
