Blackacre Farm Hatches a Plan for New Educational Campaign

With reports of over six billion eggs consumed in the UK last year and the nation's growing appetite for free-range, award-winning Somerset-based egg producer, Blackacre Farm, has launched a new educational campaign, 'No Multi-Tier Here', to give people a better understanding of their egg's journey from the farmyard to the kitchen.

Highlighting the fact that many free-range eggs are now produced in industrialised multi-tier units, the No Multi-Tier Here campaign will be taken to exhibitions and conferences throughout the UK in 2016, supported by interactive presentations in schools, online resources and social media activity using the hashtag #NoMultiTierHere.

While many free-range poultry farmers have embraced the new multi-tier shed systems, which can house up to 64,000 hens on multiple levels under one roof and offer advantages including reduced feed consumption and the opportunity to vastly increase flock numbers on the same size of land, Blackacre Farm has remained committed to traditional farming methods. Unwilling to introduce the equivalent of high-rise urban living to its hens on the farm, Blackacre's birds are free to roam on luscious pastures throughout the day, soaking up those all-important daylight hours before returning to sleep in their single-tier sheds at night.

Dan Wood, managing director of Blackacre Farm, explains: “The industry is changing at such a rapid pace, but in its efforts to keep up with consumer demand while prices have been consistently driven down, it has forgotten to communicate effectively with the public. The term 'free-range' has lost all meaning, as it refers to everything from a multi-tier industrial unit housing thousands of birds to a handful of laying hens in a family's back garden. Thankfully we've been able to keep up with demand without compromising our principles, partnering with other likeminded family-run farms in the south west, in the process supporting the traditional independent farmer and setting an example for other farms to follow. In a marketplace increasingly concerned with provenance, we think the time has come to reengage with the public so they're able to make an informed decision, which is why we've launched our No Multi-Tier Here campaign.”

Blackacre Farm's eggs are available exclusively from independent retailers, including Fortnum and Mason, Selfridges, Bayley and Sage, Chatsworth Estate and other good independent delis, farm shops, butchers and grocery stores in the UK.

ENDS