Shropshire farm eggs-tatic over Asda deal

The birds will be given the job of producing almost 10 million eggs a year – that's an egg-straordinary 27,000 eggs a day.

Heal Farms at Shawbury has landed the multi-million pound deal, with 20 superstores in the Midlands taking their eggs to start with, including Telford and Shrewsbury.

Owner Tony Heal already has a contract with Sainsbury's and he described the new deal as a significant step forward for his business.

The Heal family started egg production in 1952, when Roger and Vera Heal bought a three-acre site at Shawbury and filled it with wooden chicken coops, housing 400 birds.

Now the farm is run by Roger and Vera's son Tony, along with his wife Helen, with 20 people working on the farm's laying operation.

The farm now has more than 300,000 birds – and its Asda order represents just a tenth of its overall production.

It has 200,000 free range layers, 64,000 rearing birds, and 122,000 more hens besides its free range operation.

The farm produces 275,000 eggs every day, and 100 million eggs each year.

In 2006, Heal Farms became home to England's first multi-tiered aviary for breeding chickens, meeting the birds' desire for space to climb – a practice which is widespread among free range producers now."In the wild, they like to climb away from danger,"

Mr Heal added. "These aviary systems have two or three tiers, where they can climb up and move around. It gives them the height that they naturally enjoy.

"This significantly enhanced the welfare of our birds as they are free to express their natural behaviour."

His birds are free range, meaning they are allowed space to roam. The eggs are slightly more expensive but have become increasingly popular as concerns rise about the welfare of caged birds.

"They (Asda) are expecting considerable growth on it if the brand takes off," said Tony Heal.

"At first it will be a 32,000-bird unit supplying the contract, but they think its growth could take off and double that in the future.

"They had another Shropshire company, and shoppers were keen, but they couldn't get the supply.

"For our farming family business, the launch of Heal's Free Range Eggs into Asda stores across our home county is monumental. We can't wait to see our product hit the shelves."

The contract win, which saw products installed on shelves of Asda stores on Monday, followed a tie-up with another major egg producer, LJ Fairburn & Sons in Lincolnshire.

The eggs will be sold in six different combinations – as six large, 12 large, six medium, 12 medium, six mixed weight and 15 mixed weight eggs.

Terri Saunders, buying manager at Asda, said: "We love to work with producers who have a genuine passion for what they do.

"The Heal family has an inherent understanding of its industry and take great effort to produce eggs to the very highest welfare and quality standard.

"We are thoroughly looking forward to offering our customers in Shropshire eggs that are laid and produced in their home county and presenting a quality product with genuine provenance."