L J Fairburn & Son Limited

Producer: L J Fairburn & Son Limited, Lincolnshire
Product: British Blue Eggs from Fairburn’s
Region: East and West Midlands
Category: From the field, primary
What they do:
L J Fairburn & Son began building their egg empire after Leslie James Fairburn bought 150 chickens for £150 in 1951. From humble beginnings, Fairburn & Son has since become one of the UK’s largest egg producers, packers and distributors, delivering more than 15.2 million eggs every week.
Fairburn and Son has grown and evolved, yet is still a family-run business: Daniel Fairburn, supported by wife Sarah Louise and sisters, Caroline and Sarah, is the third generation of the family to become managing director of the business. The structure of the business allows them to retain complete control over animal welfare, production, packaging and distribution.
The Fairburn family have worked hard with two organisations, RSPCA Freedom Food and the Woodland Trust, to set the welfare standard for free-range and organic birds across the UK. Collaborating with a top geneticist, they’ve bred their own unique blue-egg-laying hen. Housed in multi-tier, free-range shed (favoured for its hygiene and cleanliness), they’re cared for with “absolute precision”. The blue eggs’ taste is a result of the birds’ optimum rearing conditions and a diet of Lincolnshire-grown feed milled in-house.
What the judges said:
The judges commended this long-established family business for aiming to produce eggs on a large scale and doing so “well and responsibly”. They were impressed by the company’s work with the RSPCA and Woodland Trust, noting the improvements their efforts have created within the commercial food chain.

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