Teresa Cumbreu has been a producer of organic eggs for 10 years at Ous Empordà, a small family farm located in the municipality of Sant Llorenç de la Muga. Now, lits operation, like others in the territory, is in “danger”. First, for theentry into the market of large producers who had not focused until now on the ecological world and that “prostitute the essence of the organic egg”. And, second, for the rise in prices of the most necessary products to maintain a farm. For this reason, the small producers have founded the association Família de l’Ou Ecològic de Catalunya (FOEC), with the aim of “protecting” the world of farming and so that it can “move forward”, explained Teresa Cumbreu, who is member of this association in addition to being a representative of Empordà organic eggs.
The entry into play of large producing, packaging and marketing companies has caused small producers to suffer from “fierce competition” when selling organic eggs. According to the association, they were born, in part, because in 2025 the European Union will not allow hens to be locked in cages and they have seen their sales jeopardized. For this reason, they have decided to look towards other categories “to do business” and without taking into account “philosophy”. Like this, they call for “tough inspections” and “sanctions” because these large producers “buy eggs outside Catalonia at a good price and sell them here as Catalan eggs”.
“They are asking for tough inspections and penalties because large producers buy eggs outside of Catalonia at a good price and sell them here as Catalan eggs”
And it is that the big companies sell the product with the “same label” as the small local producers. The association asks to have a seal that distinguishes “the Catalan organic egg from the industrialized organic egg”, as it also denounces that these eggs are sold under the name of “organic eggs”. This “shouldn’t be like this”, because the chickens raised by these large companies eat the same feed as intensively produced caged hens and, moreover, “they don’t care about the environment or animal welfare”. “The little ones do ecology and the adults say they do ecology”, affirmed Teresa Cumbreu. All this, “confuses” the consumer who sees this offer of organic eggs cheaper, while family businesses sell their production at cost price.
Family businesses complain that big companies sell eggs under a name that doesn’t belong to them
Another problem must be added to all these problems of large companies. theprice increase resulting from the Ukrainian War, which has also caused many headaches for small farms, which now see their viability in jeopardy. The association explains that organic feed for laying hens, containers and cardboard packaging have become more expensive by around 40% compared to last year. Energy has also done it with this percentage, while gasoline has done it by 80%.
Sales down
Ous Empordà has seen its sales fall since the outbreak of the pandemic. “Before we were doing well because macro farms did not exist”, said Cumbreu. Above all, they have noticed it in the last year and estimate that they have decreased by 30%. This, however, “does not mean that the sale of organic eggs has fallen”, but that “the purchase channel has changed”. Now, consumers go to buy these products from big companies and stop going to “specialist shops”.
This has caused Ous Empordà to slow down the breeding that it wanted to carry out this year. “We do not see the profitability of the investment as viable”, explained Cumbreu. The operation, where five people work, produces about 4,400 eggs a day and has 5,200 hens spread over two chicken coops – now they do about 2,100 a day because the chickens are being changed to a chicken coop, which is not active. However, “we see the business in jeopardy in the short term”. In fact, there already is some farms that have had to close and others that have had to be integrated into the big ones not to lose business. That’s why the Ous Empordà producer left the unknown: “we’re here today, we’ll see tomorrow”.