Egg producer Farmlay invests £2.4m in state-of-the-art facility

Egg producer Farmlay has secured a £2.4m investment in a state-of-the-art grader to double productivity for 2025.

The investment includes building alterations and the adoption of new grading technology which will generate around 10 new jobs, dealing with the increased number of eggs.

AI-based computer vision technology will be rolled out in January next year at the Scottish egg producer.

The new system, being shipped over from the Sanovo Technology Group factory in the Netherlands, will be able to grade 400 cases an hour.

This is in addition to the 500 cases an hour already being processed at the site.

“We were at a crossover as to whether – with demand for eggs at such a high – to simply run our existing grader longer hours,” said Farmlay MD Iain Chapman. “However, doing that wouldn’t have been a long-term solution and could have been risky with no back-up machine if there was a problem.

“We have been keenly watching the research and development going on and the Sanovo machine we are getting has been proven to be amazingly efficient, using AI to analyse high-resolution images of the eggs,” he added.

Computer vision grading systems utilise advanced algorithms and deep learning techniques to analyse high-resolution images of eggs, enabling them to differentiate between normal eggs and those with cracks. They can also detect variations in colour, texture and shape – all the time absorbing new data to become ever-more proficient.

Shortages of eggs seen in the supermarket led to many retailers offering five-year rolling contracts to producers, which Chapman said was a “blessing”.

“No retailer wants to see a repeat of the egg shortages and that – together with the increased consumption figures – has given them the confidence to show more long-term support,” said Chapman. “This really is a golden age for egg production.”