Egg Innovations’ farming history begins on the Brunnquell homestead in Port Washington, Wisconsin, more than a century ago. John Brunnquell, CEO and President of Egg Innovations is a third-generation farmer who grew up with egg-producing hens in cages. He continued to expand his expertise by enrolling in college to study agronomy and gaining knowledge of soil and plant health. After graduation, John entered his first cage-free barn and had a realization that he embraced it as his mission in life. Specifically, everyone should live in a society where the animals are cared for in accordance with their natural tendencies this realization led to John pursuing hen care in such a novel and new way that he became a pioneer breaking out of the industry’s proverbial cage, going beyond cage-free. Cage-free essentially only offers more chickens in a bigger cage; it doesn’t guarantee the hens will have access to the outdoors, freedom to roam, or pasture and space to run around, graze, and socialize in.
With his mission to chicken welfare, he led the industry into pasture-raised and free-range chicken care to provide an environment that embraces the natural needs of chickens. John was able to prove why the greatest eggs come from chickens that have been grown naturally through his research into the science of poultry and animal behavior as he earned his Ph.D, in avian ethology. He was confident that when hens are let to be chickens, they produce more nutritious and delicious eggs. John’s goal, when he started Egg Innovations in 1999, was to show that you could care for chickens well and still run a successful company. He carefully considered every aspect of a chicken’s life, including the barn’s construction, so that the hens had a comfortable, protective structure where they could still perch and socialize while inside. John examined seven distinct design structures before settling on the one that lets chickens act on their ingrained inclinations.
The Building Of The Empire
John and his team have made Egg Innovations the global leader in 100% Free Range and Pasture-Raised eggs. He grew the company from a single office in his family’s farmstead to a profitable Warsaw, Indiana-based enterprise.
Egg Innovations manages thousands of grazing acres with family farmers in the Midwest. This duty led to an epiphany and spurred Egg Innovations to pursue long-term benefits for the hens and land under its care while growing on the organization’s commitment to Chickens. People. Planet. And to ensure that every Egg Innovations decision benefits the hens, people, and the earth.
Regenerative farming approaches in organic production empower the soil, pastures, and environment to generate earth-friendly Helpful Hens™ eggs. Egg Innovations and its Helpful Hens™ specialty eggs are from family farmers that are benefiting the planet by regenerating the earth, and topsoil, promoting healthy ecosystems, fighting climate change, and creating a brighter, healthier future.
Building a Brand With The Help Of Expertise And Technology
Egg Innovations sells free-range, pasture-raised, and organic eggs nationwide as a premium beyond cage-free option. From family farmers caring for flocks to personnel handling eggs, the entire team is devoted to doing the right thing. Egg Innovations sells Blue Sky Family Farms and Helpful Hens eggs from 100+ family farms.
Specialty egg sales are reaching record highs. The Consumer Price Index shows a 70.7% increase in the egg market since January 2022. Following free range’s rise in specialty eggs, pasture-raised is also growing. Syndicated data shows specialty egg sales grew 10% annually between 2018 and December 2021. From 2018 and December 2022, pasture-raised egg sales grew 29%.
Premium eggs are growing rapidly due to consumer demand and retailer dedication to ethically produced, humanely raised products. Egg Innovations’ entire team is happy to share that Helpful Hens™ and Blue Sky Family Farms’ brands had record sales in 2022, surpassing these astonishing growth trends.
Helpful Hens™ is the fastest-growing premium egg brand, according to 2022 syndicated data. Helpful Hens™ transformed the egg case by satisfying consumer demand for sustainability and taste with the first premium eggs from regenerative farming.
Blue Sky Family Farms was second in the Nature Channel with 25% revenue growth.
Helpful Hens and Blue Sky Family Farms are expanding 3x faster than the Nature Channel subcategory with triple-digit growth year-over-year, and in the MULO segment, the brands grew over 40% year-over-year.
The Founder And His Vision
John’s dedication to improving animal welfare and care has served as the cornerstone of his work. This results from a dedication to providing the greatest care for the animals. John supplied the inspiration and motivation to achieve the largest laying hen and egg-producing industry improvement: housing. John’s architectural improvements for barns with pasturing features attributes like perching, scratching, and handy doorways, as well as his efforts to restore the meadows and revive the ecology, have fueled the market.
Egg Innovations is a perfect fit for the name of the business because of this. The business has a long history of innovation, standard-raising leadership in the sector, and a longstanding dedication to egg production.
The Beginning Of Transformative Time
Revolutionizing laying hen care to improve premium egg quality. Egg Innovations strives to improve the world one egg at a time in harmony with nature! To meet consumer demand and promote the fastest-growing premium egg brand, Helpful Hens, they aim to expand into other areas.
Online buying boosts their market share. Blue Sky Family Farms was #9 on Instacart’s top 75 fastest-growing new brands of 2022, which was across all product categories and segments available on the platform.
Egg Innovations leads its segment with authenticity and passion. Their pasture-raised, free-range hens are never caged and can socialize outside.
They worked hard to reinvent their category and offer the best-tasting, highest-quality eggs.
Serving The Clients’ Needs Right
Egg Innovations sells 300 million eggs and provides over 50 private-label egg products. They collaborate with 100+ family farmers (and growing). They supply Natural Grocers and Whole Foods’ largest private label.
Their Whole Foods retail brand care guidelines are an example of how the organization is customer-centric and committed to customer service. Egg Innovations represented laying hens’ needs and wants to drive Whole Foods’ welfare and production standards conversation. Egg Innovations joined Whole Foods to meet production targets without compromising care. This allowed Egg Innovations to deliver Whole Foods, a private-label premium egg product that outperformed national brands. Collaborative commitment!
Natural Grocer’s amazing innovation is another example of client work. Natural Grocers sells Egg Innovations’ Helpful Hens premium brand and a regeneratively produced private-label egg. They worked with Egg Innovations to use regenerative agriculture in their egg sourcing. Egg Innovations supports Natural Grocer’s goal for soil health by providing products that deliver a symbiotic connection with a common commitment to Egg Innovations’ mission of Chickens. People. Planet. to achieve their collective goals.
Conclusion
Eco-conscious consumers! Egg Innovations’ ethically raised eggs from eco-friendly farms are noticeable to customers. Consumers buy Blue Sky Family Farms and Helpful Hens™ to support humane treatment and eco-friendly techniques. Egg Innovations strives to improve the world one egg at a time by producing eggs in harmony with nature! Egg Innovations wants to expand into new markets to meet consumer demand and help Helpful Hens and Blue Sky Family Farms grow past their current growth to continue to be the fastest-growing premium egg brands.
All in all, their dedication has changed the industry. Leadership is visionary, recognizing what chickens and consumers want before the segment exists is what puts the ‘innovation’ is Egg Innovations.
