CPJ's Liquid Eggs Limited Jamaican Egg Shortage - How Imported Eggs from Hampton Creek Foods may alleviate Egg Shortage in December 2014

“We really need to have a more balanced supply and demand. At the end of the day, if you have too many people producing no one is going to do well, and if you have not enough production, hotels (will be) scrambling trying to get the product. And the supermarkets. And householders. And the school feeding people. It's chaos.”

 CPJ Executive Chairman Mark Hart commenting on the yearlong shortage of Eggs in Jamaica that's affecting the operations of Liquid Eggs Limited

Looks like I was right on the money when I said that the Egg shortage would last until March 2014 as per the prediction in my blog article entitled “Egg Shortage in Jamaica set to continue to March 2014 - Poor Agricultural Planning to blame as Cheap Meat shortages forcing many to become Ovo-Lacto Vegetarians”.

However, it’s looking to be lasting a lot longer as it now affecting the production of Liquefied Eggs as well as Regular Eggs for the Local Market.

In fact, Montego Bay-based Liquid Eggs Limited, a company that was started in 2007, may have to resort to Importing Eggs due to an unavailability of supply as stated in the article “Liquid Eggs operation cracks under shortage”, Published Friday September 12, 2014, by Mcpherse Thompson, Assistant Editor - Business, The Jamaica Gleaner.

How bad is the Egg Shortage?

The Demand is so high and Local Production levels are so low that the few remaining Egg Farmers remaining after the Glut of 2012, who are members of the JEFA (Jamaica Egg Farmers' Association) can't keep up with the demand for Eggs. That demand is also coming not only from households but also from the following sources:

1.      Hospitality Industry

2.      Quick-service Restaurants

3.      Local Bakeries

One of their main consistent clients includes the Ministry of Agriculture in partnership with the Ministry of Education.

They both currently used pureed Fruit that's leftover from Farming to make Fruit Juices and Liquefied Eggs as a substitute for Butter in the making Nutri-buns for the School Feeding program as detailed in my blog article entitled “Ministry of Agriculture to approve Fruit and Liquified Eggs for School Feeding Program even as Pork faces Glut - How Solar Farming will make Jamaica's Food Security Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2”.

So with such a big Client, you can see why Importation is a measure that has to be considered to keep their valued clients happy. But what exactly are Liquefied Eggs?

Liquefied Eggs Importation– Liquefied Eggs Important due to their Portable Easy-to-Use Form Factor

Liquefied Eggs are regular Eggs removed from the shell and separated into Yolk and White and vacuum-sealed in plastic. This is done via a process similar to the making of CB Group's Safe Food Movement Vacuum Sealed Tray-less Meats as described in my blog article entitled “CB Group's Safe Food Movement Vacuum Sealed Tray-less Meats - Trend toward Vacuum Sealing in Jamaica to stretch Food Budget and reduce Refrigeration”.

This makes them not only portable and easier to transport but less prone to spoilage due to the fact they’re vacuum-sealed in plastic. Plus their form factor is mighty convenient to people who use eggs on a large scale, such as restaurants and Bakeries. This as the Yolk is separated from the Whites, making them excellent and easier to order and easier to use when cooking certain recipes.

The CPJ is now considering Importing Eggs as a short term measure to alleviate the Demand, to quote CPJ Executive Chairman Mark Hart: “We actually Imported two containers of Eggs, but by then it was too late”. 

This he says, is just a temporary measure to satisfy their client base and keep the business going until Egg supplies normalize, as the Liquid Eggs Processing Plant as built to help the Farmers who are members of the JEFA, to quote CPJ Executive Chairman Mark Hart: “The whole purpose of the factory is to support Local Egg farmers. But the Plant needs to keep its customers, it needs to keep in business”.

So what are their financial like? The Next section will lay it straight like a plain white Egg.

CPJ and the Liquid Eggs Limited - Egg Shortage since December 2013 continues unabated

It's also beginning to impact on the bottom line of the principal owners of Liquid Eggs Limited, CPJ (Caribbean Producers Jamaica Limited) as the farmers who are members of the JEFA struggle to supply their Liquid Egg Processing Plant in Montego Bay, St. James with Eggs. The ownership of Liquid Eggs Limited breaks down as thus:

1.      50% owned by CPJ

2.      50% owned by Liquid Eggs Limited

The Board Membership of Liquid Eggs Limited gives a better idea of who's in charge and who has an interest in this company:

1.      Mr. Mark Campbell

2.      Mr. Vincent Fenton,

3.      Mr. Cislin Halloway,

4.      Mr. Afred Jennings

5.      Mr. Norman Williams

6.      Mr. Roy Baker, President of the Jamaica Egg Farmers' Association

You might remember them; they're the ones trying to make Rabbit Meat popular as stated in my blog article entitled “Caribbean Producers Jamaica Limited to go into large-scale Rabbit Farming - Rabbit Farming is Viable as you just Ignore their Cuteness and slaughter the Bunnies”.

They're also doing Ready to Eat Pork in a bid to get Jamaicans, who are short on Red Meat, to try pre-cooked White Meat in the form of Pork as explained in my blog article entitled “CPJ introduces Ready to Cook Pork – Why Jamaicans don’t like Pork solved by making Pork ready under 30 Minutes”.

Well, CPJ itself is doing quite ok, based on Audited Financial Results for the year ended June 2014:

1.      11.7% increase in Profit to US$3.46 million from the US$3.1 million for the same period last year

2.      13.2% increase in Sales to US$78.6 million from US$69.4 million for the same period last year

However, their losses on their investment in Liquid Eggs Limited based on Audited Financial Results for the year ended June 2014 are so staggering, they're stated also in US$:

1.      US$58,797 Operating Loss

2.      US$312,241 Total Capital expenditure in the setup of the company

So what killed the Goose that laid these Golden Eggs for CPJ? Turns out the problem is on BOTH the Demand and Supply side of the equation and Balance is really yet to return to the Egg Market.

Egg Production shortage and Urban Egg Demand - Imported Eggs may be coming from Hampton Creek Foods

In that previous article I’d done, I'd pointed out the shortage was due to persons now switching to Eggs as a substitute for Meat, creating an artificial shortage since Christmas 2013 as stated in my blog article entitled “Egg Shortage in Jamaica set to continue to March 2014 - Poor Agricultural Planning to blame as Cheap Meat shortages forcing many to become Ovo-Lacto Vegetarians”.

These persons are the very same housewives referred to by Caribbean Broilers' Corporate Affairs Manager Dr Keith Amiel in my article, albeit his focus was more on baking of Cakes. I debunked that myth, because you don't unnecessarily need Eggs to make a cake, especially as so many J.F. Mill Cake Mixes are on the shelves that don't require Eggs and so many substitutes even exist for Eggs.

Plus earlier in 2013, there had been a Chicken Back Meat shortage. Here in Jamaica, that's the cheapest Meat. this shortage forced many in the rural Areas to resort to other sources of Meat including Mongoose and the Crocodile as noted in my blog article entitled “Jamaicans now Eating Sly Mongoose as Chicken Back Shortage Gets closer to Christmas - Family and Community Gardens needed to Grow what we Eat and reduce Food Import Bill”.

It's the more civilized people living in the Urban centers i.e. Kingston, Montego Bay, that opted to use Eggs as a Meat replacement, being as it's like Corned Beef once done right and cheaper to use than even Chicken Back.

That's what been driving the demand and prolonging the shortage, which is now affecting the operations of the Liquid Eggs Limited, to quote CPJ Executive Chairman Mark Hart: “We had a difficult time getting the shell Eggs which we needed to pasteurise for the Plant and we had periods where we had to cease production, and it actually jeopardised several of our contracts. So it had a major impact on the Plant”.

That explains the Demand side.

But what caused the supply side to diminish? According to President of the Jamaica Egg Farmers' Association, Mr. Roy Baker the Glut of 2012 caused prices to dip forcing farmers out of business.

When the demand resurged, they farmers were caught off guard and found themselves unable to gain the capital to get back into production, resulting in a shortage by December 2013 as I’d recorded in my blog article entitled “Egg Shortage in Jamaica set to continue to March 2014 - Poor Agricultural Planning to blame as Cheap Meat shortages forcing many to become Ovo-Lacto Vegetarians”.

CPJ and the Jamaican Egg Shortage - Hampton Creek Foods Beyond Eggs Possible

Ok fine.

But if they plan to Import Liquefied Eggs, it can't be regular Eggs in shells, as they'd spoil or break in transit, resulting in losses to CPJ. Most likely, they'll source them from a Bulk Supplier of Liquefied Eggs in the US of A or eon Latin America.

One possibility may even include Importing Eggs from San Francisco Company Hampton Creek Foods, whose product Beyond Eggs is made from vegetable proteins combined to have the same taste and texture as Eggs as stated in my blog article entitled “Hampton Creek Foods and their Plant Protein Egg Replacement – Global Egg Industry to get the Kibosh by 2017”.

The main reason I suspect they may be a possible source of Bulk Liquefied Eggs is because Hampton Creek Foods Replacement Egg Protein made from Plant Proteins not only tastes like Eggs but is also cheaper to manufacture than Eggs, being made directly from the very Plants and soya Beans that the Chickens process to make Eggs.

CPJ will have to Import these Eggs to make up for the shortfall in Local production. In so doing, the Regular Householders, come Christmas 2014, will be getting the bulk of the Eggs that the current Eggs Suppliers are producing that aren’t ending up at the Liquid Eggs Limited Processing Plant.

The Imported Liquid Eggs coming from Hampton Creek Foods will be rebranded and sold to the Hospitality Industry i.e. Hotels, Quick-service Restaurants and Local Bakeries so in one way or another, Jamaican will consume products that may contain this Hampton Creek Foods Replacement Egg Protein made from Plant Proteins.

It’ll be quite awhile before Jamaicans even get used to the idea of eating Liquefied Eggs out of as Plastic Container. But then again, the tourists and Jamaicans who eat Baked Goods and at the Restaurants use these Liquefied Eggs and most people eat products containing them without realizing that they’ve done so.

So it’s just a matter of aesthetics i.e. getting used to the idea of Eggs Whites and Eggs Yolk purchased separately encased and vacuum-sealed in plastic that basically last longer even without refrigeration.

So will this be the fate of Jamaica as may be happening to the American Eggs Industry? Will Eggs production be gradually replaced by Imported Hampton Creek Foods Replacement Egg Protein made from Plant Proteins?

Keep reading my blog for a possible follow up as this story get more interesting as Christmas 2014 approaches. With the coming Egg shortage set to get more acute due to the still ongoing Jamaican Egg Shortage, we might have to go Beyond Eggs!