A leading livestock production and agro-allied service company in the country, Animal Care Services Konsult (ACSK), has unveiled three new innovations in egg branding with the introduction of the best-before date on eggs, replacement of imported plastic packing with locally-sourced pulp pack as well as the first eve varnished boiled egg snack.
Speaking at the press launch of the new branding strategies at the company’s headquarters in Ogere Remo, Ogun State, on Friday, as part of activities marking the World Egg Day, the president of ACSK, Dr Olatunde Agbato, said the innovations would set the company’s FUNTUNA eggs apart in the market, be environment-friendly and create local jobs for the economy through import substitution.
Agbato, who used the occasion to charge Nigerians to eat more egg as a rich source of protein for the human wellbeing, disclosed that the per capita egg consumption for Nigeria, which currently stands at between 60 and 80, was far below the globally recommended 365 eggs per year per person.
“There are three main innovations we have done to our eggs. The first one is that each of our eggs carries its best before date. When you buy a crate of eggs and somebody mixes our eggs with other eggs, apart from the fact that our logo is on each egg, which we did a while back, now it carries best before date.
“Even though we put the best before date on our eggs, it does not mean that people can’t eat the eggs after the date. It only means that people will derive more value from the eggs if eaten within the date on the eggs.
“The second innovation is a shrink-wrapped egg, which purpose is to make use of locally available pulp material to reduce the cost of egg production and make eggs more available to consumers who are will to buy our eggs but are considering their pockets.
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“Using plastic packs, which are imported, costs a little bit more. FUNTUNA eggs are now presented in local pulps. The beauty of it is that these local pulps are environment-friendly. Yes, the plastic packs are more aesthetically pleasing to the eyes, but the most important thing is that it is the same quality FUNTUNA egg that is in the new packs.
“The third innovation is the varnished hardboiled egg which provides snack nutrition. You buy a create of our boiled eggs, put it on your dining table and take one to eat per day. It does not get spoilt and for 30 days, the eggs are still good for consumption because spoilage does not occur since the eggs are varnished.
“You don’t have to boil eggs every day because each time you boil eggs, you waste cooking gas. Our eggs are boiled using automation technology that allows the integrity of the eggs to be preserved,” he said.
Speaking on the myth hitherto associated consumption of egg, the ACSK’s executive vice president, Dame Olufunmilayo Agbato, said researches by renowned global nutritionists had debunked the linking of egg consumption with high cholesterol.
“The cholesterol in an egg is the good cholesterol needed by the human body to neutralise the bad cholesterol got mostly from red meat and from the oil we consume with our food. The culprit that could make anybody get bad cholesterol is the oil people use to fry their eggs.
“That is why we are promoting boiled eggs. When you eat your egg boiled, there is no interference. It is pure and wholesome and everything you need in egg, without contamination, is in FUNTUNA eggs,” she said.
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