British Lion eggs have been a long-term client of Nexus for over thirty years and we have worked as its marketing team across all disciplines to build the most famous food quality mark in the UK. Reporting to the industry body, the British Egg Industry Council (BEIC), we have defined the strategy for shell eggs and egg products, representing the egg farming community to protect the industry’s near 100% self-sufficiency in Britain and to persuade consumers, foodservice, retail and policy makers that eggs are an integral part of a healthy, affordable diet. Over the decades, the industry has faced many challenges including salmonella and cholesterol concerns, requiring Nexus to implement a long-term evolving PR and marketing strategy to overcome these seismic obstacles and restore confidence while futureproofing the British egg industry with millennial and Gen Z consumers.

Restoring confidence

British eggs are produced to the highest standards in the world and we eat 13bn a year but not so long ago the outlook wasn’t so rosy. The salmonella crisis of 1988 nearly decimated the industry and Nexus was brought in to help rebuild consumer confidence and trust in British eggs, particularly when eaten soft boiled, as a key part of people’s diets. This was a crisis of epic proportions with extensive negative media coverage, consumer fear around the safety of eggs and declining sales. Nexus worked with the BEIC to develop and launch a new Code of Practice for egg farmers to guarantee the highest food safety standards, which is symbolised by the Lion on the egg shell and pack, and to deliver a far reaching marketing programme to re-establish eggs’ reputation.

Changing perceptions

Nexus developed a proactive education strategy to demonstrate that British egg farmers were committed to new safety standards for British eggs under the Lion scheme and to dispel the myths around cholesterol and eggs. The strategy was underpinned by scientific research and independent experts and a wide range of audiences were engaged including retail and foodservice buyers, food safety and health professionals/influencers and the media, as well as direct communication to consumers. The foundation for ongoing outreach was the demonstration of unequivocable health and safety facts to provide a new platform for educationalists to inform their advice, including food safety experts, environmental health officers, medical professionals, careworkers, nutritionists and dieticians.

The Lion roars

The new British Lion Code of Practice was launched by Nexus in partnership with the Minister of Agriculture at Westminster achieving blanket front end national broadcast and print media coverage. One to one briefings were held with all UK supermarkets and key foodservice and wholesale businesses with updates provided regularly over the coming years with the aim of ensuring that only British Lion eggs are stocked on supermarket shelves, as is the case today.

‘Lift the Limits’ academic research was commissioned to demonstrate why it is safe to eat more than 3 eggs a week and a nutritional density report demonstrating ‘superfood’ status was produced.  The findings were  shared with key organisations such as the British Heart Foundation with the aim of changing their recommendation on egg limits. 

Consistent outreach to the Food Standards Agency (FSA) was co-ordinated by Nexus to successfully achieve a change in their advice about the consumption of runny eggs by vulnerable groups, such as pregnant women and weaning babies, by demonstrating the consistently high standards of the British Lion Code of Practice.  On the change in their advice, Nexus planned and activated the announcement through an extensive media campaign and monitoring of all official advice sources such as the NHS to ensure the change was registered.

Long term campaigns promoting British Lion eggs using the FSA approval, health and nutrition, taste and versatility, through trade and consumer media, key opinion leaders in health and food safety, social and influencers, content creation, digital and partnerships with ambassadors such as Tom Daley, have continued to ensure British Lion eggs are sustainable and relevant for future generations.

Cracked it!

British Lion eggs are now declared safe to eat runny for all consumers by the Food Standards Agency.

British Lion eggs are exclusively stocked by all supermarkets (other than rare exceptions during bird flu) maintaining the UK’s self-sufficiency in eggs.

Egginfo.co.uk is the most visited egg information website in the world.