World Egg Day on Friday 8 October is a celebration of eggs in all their yolky goodness.
Eggs are packed with 13 different vitamins and nutrients in each serving. And with just 310 kilojoules (or 74 calories), in each egg, they make a good, healthy choice.
They’re the perfect protein source because they contain all nine essential amino acids needed to meet your body’s needs. Plus they’re a natural source of key nutrients, including omega-3 fatty acids, Vitamins A, D, E, and B12 and antioxidants.
To top it all off, eggs are easy to cook because you don’t need to be an aspiring chef to dunk one in the saucepan or crack one in the pan.
Australians love their eggs
Eggs have become a staple in many Australians’ lives. Australian egg farmers produce 16.9 million eggs every day to feed the nation, which equates to 6.2 billion eggs each year. Australians consume about 249 eggs per person per year (up from 221 just 6 years ago).
The egg farming industry is made up of over 800 businesses across Australia that support more than 3,800 jobs. This includes a diverse range of businesses, from large vertically integrated farms that control rearing, production, grading, packing and transportation, to very small-scale farms that sell to local markets.
Queensland’s egg industry
In 2020-21, Queensland was the largest egg producing state , accounting for 35% of total egg production in Australia.
Approximately 85% of Queensland eggs are produced in the Darling Downs region of southern Queensland. Other areas of the state where egg production occurs include:
- South East Queensland, including the Sunshine Coast hinterland where most production is small-scale, pasture-based free range farms
- North Queensland, from Townsville to the Atherton Tablelands
- Central Queensland, including the Mackay, Whitsundays, Rockhampton and Gladstone regions
- the Fraser Coast and Mary Valley regions.
Egg Farming Systems in Australia
There are four main egg farming systems used in Australia: free range, cage, barn-laid and organic.
Rising concerns from consumers regarding animal welfare have led to free range egg production growing significantly over the last 15 years. In 2020-21, free range and cage-free eggs accounted for 64% of all retail grocery sales.
However, there still remains a strong demand for cage and barn-laid eggs as an affordable source of high-quality protein (see table below).
In 2020-2021, major supermarket egg sales were valued at $1,107.8m.
Supermarket sales by farming system in FY2018-19
| Farming System |
Sales Volume |
Sales Value |
| Free range |
52% |
59% |
| Cage |
36% |
28% |
| Barn-laid |
10% |
10% |
| Specialty i.e. organic eggs |
2% |
4% |