Nigeria’s inability to process eggs into egg powder, despite suffering an egg glut, is costing the country a minimum of a $1billion every year.
Nigeria spends over $1 dollars yearly on the importation of egg powder, used in the manufacturing of a wide range of products across the food and beverage industry.
This increases the pressure on the country’s foreign exchange reserves, money that could have been saved if the country could process its fresh eggs into egg powder.
Egg powder is used in production of oil-based emulsions. It is also used in preparation of foods such as ice-cream, bread, cakes, biscuits, noodles, and doughnuts. It can likewise be rehydrated to make dishes such as scrambled eggs and omelettes.
“The country has been losing a lot of money due to our inability to process eggs into powder. It has really been a tough year for poultry farmers, yet they still have to struggle with the annual egg glut,” said Kabiru Ibrahim, former President, Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN) in a telephone conversation with BusinessDay.
“We need to start processing eggs into powder to help address the issue of egg glut in the country and also increase the shelf life of our eggs,” Ibrahim said.
Nigeria is the largest producer of eggs in Africa with 10.3 billion eggs annually, data from the Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN) state, but has failed to take advantage of its status through the processing of eggs.
The country in the last three months had experienced an egg glut which has seen the price of eggs drop significantly, putting most poultry farms under pressure but bringing relief to homes and industries which consume them.
Despite the large production of eggs, the country has only one firm that is currently into the processing of eggs.
“We produce a ton of egg powder per day using between 3,400 and 4,000 crates of eggs per day. The demand for the powder is very high as we have a lot of food and beverage companies patronising us,” said Samuel Sewoniku, director of general operations, Answer Industries Limited.
“We use the spray drying technology that is used by the dairy industry in converting milk to powder to extract the moisture continent from the eggs, turning them into powder,” Sewoniku said.
He noted that investment in the technology is very vital for the country and the poultry sector in particular, as it would help address some of the fundamental problem besetting the sector.
The country’s annual egg glut usually occurs between March and April each year and farmers lose a lot of their profits during that period.
“There is low purchasing power for eggs in the country, especially in the Northern region, due to the current economic downturn in the country. Nigerians are not consuming eggs like before and it has created a glut in the market,” Dayo Gawati, managing director and chief executive officer, Fdot Farms told BusinessDay in a telephone response to questions.
“We sell a crate of eggs (big size) for N700 as against N900 in January, while a crate for small size eggs goes for N550 as against N750 four months ago. We have been selling not to make profit but to cut down our losses,” Gawati said.
He explained that poultry farmers are currently battling with problems of high cost of feeds, high cost of vaccines and low prices of eggs.
Raw eggs are said to last about four weeks, while powdered eggs can last up to a year. The yolk, the whole eggs and the albumen can be processed into powder.
Eggs contain protein and are consumed in homes across the country, especially by the burgeoning middle-class and children. Eggs likewise serve as a cheap source of protein for young Nigerians between the ages of five and 40, which make up over 60 percent of the country’s 180 million population.
Josephine Okojie
