Sainsbury’s Woodland Eggs Wins Pig & Poultry Marketing Award
20/05/08

The Woodland Eggs brand, developed by Noble Foods and Sainsbury’s, scooped the Pig & Poultry Marketing Award for ‘Brand Identity’ at this week’s Pig & Poultry Fair, Stoneleigh. Judges based their decision on the brand’s success at displaying great strategy and creativity, as well as its ability to overcome obstacles and deliver great results for producers, hens and customers.

Simon Wilson (right) from Noble Foods, receives the Brand Identity award at the Pig and Poultry Fair, 14 May from Lydia-Jane Harrison, sales & marketing director at DENAGARD and Stewart Houston, Chairman of the National British Pig Association

Simon Wilson, Noble Foods’ marketing manager said: “This is a fantastic award and reflects the positive work within out partnership that has delivered a unique brand that in turn has delivered happier hens, happier producers and a greener environment for all.”
Woodland Eggs was launched by Sainsbury’s and its egg supplier, Noble Foods, in 2004 following feedback from their free-range egg producer, John Widdowson, on the behavioural benefits of a tree-planted environment for hens. Chickens are descended from jungle fowl and are therefore instinctively much happier spending time in the shade of trees and hedges, dust bathing and foraging as their ancestors did.

Since then, the brand has formed a successful partnership with the Woodland Trust, the UK’s leading woodland conservation charity. The Trust receives a 1p donation on every dozen eggs sold. To date, the charity has received more than £220,000 to help fund tree planting projects throughout the country; a crucial step as the UK is currently one of the least wooded countries in Europe, with just 12 per cent woodland cover.

Producers also benefit from the brand by being members of the Federation of Woodland Egg Producers, which aims to forge closer links with Sainsbury’s. All woodland producers receive a price premium, to compensate for the tree maintenance and additional welfare standards, thanks to a £1 million investment by Sainsbury’s and Noble Foods.

Today, nearly 3 million hens enjoy a woodland environment on 197 woodland farms across the country. Sainsbury’s has recently rolled out the range across all stores and the brand has replaced the majority of own label lines, meaning greater sales, more donations and delivering additional profit to producers.

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