With retail sales growing by 18.4 percent in the last year (52 w/e 27 Dec 2020), the equivalent of around 1.2 billion extra eggs, this year’s campaign will focus on keeping eggs top of mind and maintaining the sales boost delivered by lockdown and consumer desire for quick, healthy meals. In addition to inspiring recipe content, targeting millennials in particular, the campaign will also seek to build pride in the Lion against the backdrop of Brexit and the expected rise in demand for British produce.

Olympic diver, foodie and parent, Tom Daley, will continue his role as the figurehead for British Lion eggs as he builds towards representing Great Britain at the Olympic Games this year. Daley, an advocate for healthy living, will front a digital ad campaign in partnership with health and food media outlets including BBC Good Food and Men’s Health, as well as creating and sharing Lion egg recipes with his 7 million+ social media followers.

British Lion eggs is also tapping into the huge popularity of podcasts, sponsoring various food and health focused series, which will generate an estimate of 400k weekly impressions and reach an audience of which 70 percent are aged 18-34. A partnership with inspirational digital food platform Tastemade will help to encourage consumers to experiment with new ways to enjoy this versatile food.

Respected nutritionists and dietitians will continue to work with British Lion eggs to leverage their food safety and nutritional benefits, targeting health professionals and consumers, across health professional and consumer media.

To communicate and educate new audiences about the FSA advice that only British Lion eggs should be consumed runny by vulnerable groups, a new partnership is being launched with Charlotte Stirling-Reed, a Registered Nutritionist and high-profile influencer with 204k followers on Instagram, as well as an advertising campaign with top parenting sites, including netmums.com. The long-standing partnership with Annabel Karmel, the best-selling author on baby food and nutrition, will also continue.

Seasonal, calendar and health opportunities, including British Egg Week, will be maximised year-round across digital, social and print media.

The campaign will also have a strong foodservice focus, with food safety professional Dr Lisa Ackerley continuing to work with British Lion eggs to highlight their benefits to EHOs and hospitality through social content, training and liaison with key industry influencers. This messaging will be shared through partnerships with respected industry bodies including The Royal Society of Public Health and Chartered Institute of Environmental Health. Social and digital media partnerships targeting caterers with food safety messaging will follow.

Andrew Joret, Chairman of the British Egg Industry Council, says: “While retail sales have been on the up for more than a decade, last year we witnessed an incredible increase in egg sales, due to lockdown. Healthy, quick and easy to cook, as well as versatile, consumers are using eggs as a meal solution throughout the day, which gives us a fantastic opportunity to try to maintain those consumption levels throughout this year and beyond.

“Conversely, there have been huge challenges for hospitality as a result of lockdown but we are optimistic the sector will start to recover when lockdown eases and our marketing programme will highlight the benefits of British Lion eggs and encourage increased usage.

“We enter a post-Brexit world expecting increased demand for British produce and with huge confidence that we can continue to inspire customers and end consumers with motivating messages around the nutrition, versatility and affordability of eggs produced in the UK and educating all stakeholders about the highest safety and quality standards that British Lion eggs offer.”

British Lion eggs will continue to inspire retail, foodservice and care home channels with new research, motivating experts, ambassadors, education, training and advertising across print, digital and social media as well as at exhibitions and events in the latter part of 2021.