The Business
INNOVATION – INVESTMENT – SUSTAINABILITY
THE FAMILY MOTTO IS
“Feed the chickens before you feed yourself!”
Led by old fashioned family values, upholding a belief in integrity and loyalty, the business is far from antiquated. Investment in innovative technology and state of the art buildings help stream line this modern business and future-proof it too. Welfare is at the top of the agenda, for birds and staff – all of which tend to be thought of as part of the extended Fairburn family.
In 2022, Fairburn's unveiled new-look packing centre and warehouse significantly expanding capacity thanks to advanced technology, and has announced exciting plans for further innovation in the future.
Fairburn's added a 2400m sq extension to its Burgh le Marsh site, as part of a project to improve efficiency and ensuring it continues to deliver the freshest and highest quality eggs to retail customers. It is now one of the most technologically advanced egg packing hubs in the UK.
Not only does Fairburn’s Eggs now have the capacity to grade 382,000 eggs per hour but plastic wrap consumption will be reduced by over 12 tonnes a year.
The packing centre is accredited to BRC Grade A standards, the Lion Code of Practice, RSPCA Assured, the Organic Food Federation and the Organic Farmers and Growers Association.
5 STEP BUSINESS PROCESS
REARING
L J Fairburn & Son Limited rear in excess of 2 million chicks a year for both their own use and for local farmers.
This is a key part of the process, giving Fairburn chicks the best start in life, as when they turn into pullets (laying hens) at approximately 16-18 weeks of age, only the best reared chicks live to be strong and efficient laying hens.
At Fairburn's, we rear several breeds of hens that produce a variety of eggs. They are all stringently checked by their experienced rearing team, as well as being assessed by the British Lion Code and the RSPCA Assured to ensure the highest standards of hygiene and bird welfare.
MILLING
With a need for greater efficiencies and increased throughput, significant investment has also been made to improve milling technology at Fairburn’s.
The fully-accredited UFAS and BEIC registered milling centre has the capacity to mill over 80,000 tonnes of feed per year. As a truly vertically integrated business, the new milling facilities offer sufficient capacity to feed Fairburn’s two million birds, allowing complete control of all inputs into every egg laid. The mill also supplies local poultry farmers with feed.
The advantage of owning their own mill is being able to develop their own feed tailored to the birds' needs and product requirements. In partnership with their customers, they can develop bespoke specialist diets if required. It also means the business is in a position to be very reactive to any changing requirements.
Fairburn’s can supply the following lines and more if development is required:
Omega-enriched
Tastier egg with a golden yolk
Cornfed
All grain
LAYING
Fairburn’s raise all their own laying hens from day old chicks. A great deal of time is taken to identify the best breeds. Working closely with breeding companies, the family discuss innovations in genetics. Improving the life span of each hen, increasing laying efficiencies, and the quality of the eggs, are all important. The right breed also enhances consumer choice with the ability to produce a wide range of different eggs.
The hens go into their laying houses at 16 weeks of age and lay eggs 365 days a year. Unusually, Fairburn’s actually own and produce, as well as pack, 50% of the eggs they sell. This puts them in the unique position of being able to take control of every production and distribution process from day old chick to the family fridge. They are also in partnership with local farmers who complement their own production.
All eggs produced by the hens are Lion accredited. The British Lion Quality mark on egg shells and egg boxes means that the eggs have been produced to the highest standards of food safety.
The British Lion Quality Code of Practice was launched in 1998 and includes compulsory vaccination against Salmonella Enteritidis of all pullets destined for Lion egg-producing flocks. British Lion also participates in independent auditing, improved traceability of eggs, and a “best-before” date stamped on the shell and pack, as well as on-farm and packing station hygiene controls.
Fairburn’s Free Range, Organic, and Barn eggs are from RSPCA Assured accredited farms, this means they are fully-traceable from shop shelf to farm – not only do they check all the details when a product is labelled but they employ independent auditors to check randomly selected RSPCA Assured supply chains too. This ensures all codes of welfare practice are being fully carried out on all RSPCA Assured approved farms and secures a healthy and sustainable food supply chain.
