Egg Marketing-need your opinion on labeling

[Organics North]

Hi all!
I could use your opinions.
I am preparing to go to market at our local organic grocery store. I will be using the clear plastic cartons to show off the colored eggs, and a 2x7 inch label with the following text:

OK Here is the latest as of June 6th..

Your opinions are appreciated!

ON

 

[alicefelldown]

Fresh – Local - Pastured Eggs
1 Dozen Ungraded Chicken Eggs

Our birds are free ranged or pastured on grass (or what you pasture them on) to ensure a high quality life for them and the best eggs for you. Because hens cannot thrive on pasture alone, we supply sprouted organic grains along with organic mash made with 10% flax (for Omega 3s). We do not use any GMO grains or Soy!

I'm not as sure about this statement, since I haven't read as much about the effects of probiotics on egg quality, only on egg production. I did see a link on google linking it with lowered cholesterol, which I assume is what you are trying to convey. If it's just for egg production then there is no reason to state it on your label.
We also give our flock probiotics (organic apple cider vinegar, yogurt, kefir or kombucha) for lower cholesterol.


*** CHECK YOUR LOCAL EGG SALE REGULATIONS. There are usually certain restrictions on what you must and cannot say depending on your area. Since you are working with the local store, I'm assuming you already have done so. I know in my area, I need to provide the basics of laid, packing and edible by dates as well as the normal FDA warning label "Safe Handling Instructions: To prevent illness from bacteria: keep eggs refrigerated, cook eggs until … " etc.

 

[patandchickens]

What the previous poster said -- be careful what you call things. I do not think you can call them "organic" if the grain you feed is only 80%+ organic.

Since nobody is going to read that long a label, I would suggest paring it down to only the essentials. You might be best off leaving out the extreme details and the few debatable statements (it is really not clear that your chosen breeds have intrinsically "higher quality" eggs than others; many people do not find organic or free-range eggs to *taste* any much different; the word "or" in "free range or pasture" may worry some people; etc)

What about just something like "Our heritage-breed hens are allowed to forage freely in pasture and woodland, and also recieve organic (?) grains and natural probiotic foods. You will see the difference in their bright orange yolks! And studies have shown that pastured hens can produce eggs with [insert numbers here]."

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[Organics North]

Thank you..
Oh boy I have some work to do. I have not looked that deeply into the required info for the label....
Thank you thank you!

Many good points both of you made. I will come back with revisions!

(I believe I can call them organic at 80%) But if I am less than 80% then I can only say "fed organic ingredients".

I will double check on that too.. Also research the probiotics...

ON

 

[halo]

Personally, I would walk on by. There is no way I would take the time to read all that. If you dont condense that into far less, you are wasting your time.

There are many ways to describe them, without the organic label. But shorten it waaaaay up.

 

[Organics North]

Halo, I agree it needs to be shortened....(I have a 2" by 7" field to work in)... But I personally like to read some "flowery" details about a product. It has been proven very succesful. Celestial Seasonings tea is one example that comes to mind, the box goes on and on about the tea ingredients. My Favorite cracker ak-mac the entire back of the box is a story, I must have read it a 100 times over the years.

No commercial producers are doing what I am doing, and very very very few small producers are doing it either. I spent 6 months researching and developing a unique feed recipe, that makes my eggs stand out from other small producers.. So by no means do I just want to say that boring old "farm fresh" on the label.

I intend to stay within the bounds of the laws BUT push the envelope. I spend extra time and money on using certified organic grains exept for the BOSS which I can not find Organic, and I have not figured how to formulate feed for an acceptable Methionine content without it.

So yes I want to label organic if I can legally at 80% certified organic feeds and suppliments.

So far I found out I need to use the words UNGRADED and it must be 1/4" high type, I may or may not be able to use the word "fresh" on ungraded eggs.. (I wonder if that is where the term "farm fresh" came from???

Thanks everyone, you got me started digging into this beurocratic mess....

ON

 

[Tala]

I put all that flowery stuff on my craigslist ads, not on the actual cartons.

My egg cartons are really simple (the laws here are also pretty simple) - they say my name/address, dates the eggs were collected, and that they are "ungraded chicken eggs" - that's it.




I would cut it shorter. Most people don't know or care about probiotics and acv, but they are familiar with "free range" type descriptions and orange yolks.

About us:
We are a small family producer, located right here in the Wisconsin Northwood’s. We raise rare and unusual breeds of chickens, such as Easter Eggers, Ameraucana and French Marans chickens. Our birds are allowed to free range or pasture from young on. The birds enjoy foraging through the leaf litter in the Northwood’s from dawn to dusk. We supplement what they find on their own with our very own (80%+) organic whole grain feeds. See the difference in our vibrant orange yolks.​

 

[alicefelldown]

Saying "allowed to pasture" doesn't have the same effect as 'our birds are pasture raised and enjoy foraging through the leaf litter in the Northwood’s from dawn to dusk." - it's too authoritarian.

 

[pips&peeps]

I'm pretty sure you have to grade the eggs and they must be candled before you sell to the public. Most likely you have to have an egg handlers license too.



www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/getfile?dDocName=STELDEV3004502 usda egg grading manual

 

[alicefelldown]

You can sell ungraded eggs if you meet certain small time qualifications - the eggs sold at my local farmer's market are ungraded, but are candled for example.