With 200,000 hens across its two Yorkshire farms, the company has seen the volume of free range eggs it handles increase by 250 per cent in the past five years, with significant investment going into hen housing and a state-of-the-art crack detection system, which can monitor 130,000 eggs per hour.

The company has only ever produced free-range eggs and continues to focus on producing the highest quality free-range eggs by combining traditional animal husbandry with continued innovation.

Yorkshire Farmhouse Sales and Marketing Director, Adrian Potter, said: "We are delighted to be named the UK's largest producer and packer of free-range only eggs.

"The increase in sales goes to show that even in hard times, consumers are prepared to pay that little extra for eggs produced to higher welfare standards.

Our continued investment allows us to keep building on our high welfare standards, while keeping the end cost down for the consumer."

The family-run business, which has been producing free-range eggs for more than 30 years, started out with a small flock so Mrs Potter could have eggs "the way they used to taste". Yorkshire Farmhouse provides hens with the run of acres of outdoor space with plenty of tree cover to encourage foraging and other natural behaviour. At night, the hens are housed in multi-level barn style sheds furnished with nesting boxes to provide the preferred environment for the hens to lay.

Adrian and James Potter