dsm-firmenich: How Sustainable Eggs Cut Emissions by 17%

Major food companies and retailers are committed to creating more sustainable food systems, yet the scale and complexity of supply chains present significant challenges, according to dsm-firmenich.

The global company, which specialises in nutrition, health and beauty innovation, is working to tackle sustainability challenges within the poultry supply chain.

dsm-firmenich's Animal Nutrition & Health business has partnered with Hardeman Egg Group and Royal Agrifirm Group to produce sustainable eggs.

The partnership between the companies combines leading technology and innovation to help make sustainable eggs accessible for everyone.

It aims to provide consumers with eggs that have been produced more sustainably than conventional eggs, whilst maintaining a competitive price point.

The companies have completed a commercial pilot, which delivered promising results for the future of sustainably-produced eggs.

"Through nutritional solutions we achieved more than a 17% reduction in carbon emissions, while layer performance was above the baseline," says Bas van Driel, Group Director Specialties at Royal Agrifirm Group.

"If we apply this at scale across roughly 10 billion eggs that are produced yearly in the Netherlands, we can reduce around 180 million kg of CO₂e – equivalent to the yearly energy and gas consumption of 70,000 households – using technology that exists today."

Price parity for mainstream adoption

The production of the sustainable eggs allows companies across the value chain to meet their sustainability commitments in a cost-effective way.

According to dsm-firmenich, whilst some consumers are willing to pay more for sustainable products, mainstream adoption relies on cost competitiveness.

Ton Gielen, CEO at Hardeman, says: "The biggest impact comes from producing a lower-footprint egg that is attractively priced, ideally at price parity.

"There are already far too many options on the shelves. If a consumer sees two cartons at the same price, they will pick the verified lower footprint option and feel they're helping the environment without paying more."

The Carbon Value Program approach

The project is centred around dsm-firmenich's Carbon Value Program, which is powered by its sustainability service Sustell.

The Carbon Value Program aims to improve the efficiency and profitability of animal protein production through the application of its nutritional solutions, whilst bringing carbon reductions.

Its advanced nutritional solutions optimise animal health and unlock higher feed conversion and feed efficiency, which helps to reduce emissions from livestock.

The sustainability expertise from Sustell is helping to create a new industry standard for sustainable eggs, in the partnership with Hardeman and Agrifirm.

Dr David Nickell, Head of Sustainability & Business Solutions at dsm-firmenich Animal Nutrition & Health, says: "Accuracy and credibility of measurement at scale is the foundation of an environmental claim that consumers can trust.

"When you combine robust, verifiable data with proven nutrition improvements, you lower the footprint per egg and improve productivity at the same time."

Building on previous collaboration

dsm-firmenich's partnership aims to bring the new sustainable egg standard to more companies across the farm and food value chain.

This follows a project in March 2024, when dsm-firmenich and Agrifirm teamed up to connect their platforms Sustell and PoultryNEXT.

Agrifirm's PoultryNEXT platform focuses on farming performance insights, using expertise in flock management, animal production and nutritional knowledge.

The two companies combined their platforms to offer a new solution for poultry performance optimisation, focused on health and sustainability.

A pilot was launched with Agrifirm partner farms, giving farmers access to sustainability insights including their farm's environmental footprint to help support responsible production performance.

This aimed to produce better supply chain transparency, providing a more accurate idea of the complete product journey.