Beyond The Carton: What Are Premium Eggs And Why Do They Matter?

Forbes

17-04-2025

Egg shortages have left consumers scrambling to find cartons on store shelves. And when eggs are in stock, shoppers are faced with higher prices, carton limits and a confusing list of labels that make it hard to decide which eggs to take home.
'I've always seen people standing in front of egg aisles looking perplexed, but now you see it more than ever,' says Phyllis Rothschild, chief marketing officer for Pete & Gerry's, the nation's top producer of organic, pasture-raised and free-range eggs.
With conventional egg prices hitting record highs, more consumers are purchasing premium eggs like Pete & Gerry's.
Pete & Gerry's
Part of the confusion stems from the prices. Avian influenza, or bird flu, has caused prices of commodity eggs to hit record highs and, in some cases, made them more expensive than premium eggs. It's led to an increase in the number of consumers who purchase eggs with free-range, pasture-raised and organic labels.
The difference between commodity eggs and premium eggs from brands like Pete & Gerry's and Nellie's Free Range Eggs is evident in the first bite. It makes consumers think, "Hey, what have I been missing my whole life? These eggs are so much better,' Rothschild says.
Labels can help consumers find premium eggs in stores, but they are often hard-pressed to definitively say what they mean. Research shows that 89% of shoppers who purchased eggs with labels like natural, vegetarian-fed or farm-raised believed the claims indicated higher animal welfare standards. But these specific claims are often misleading.
Rothschild suggests skipping over cartons emblazoned with the phrases 'farm raised,' 'all natural' and 'fresh' because all hens are raised on farms, and all eggs are natural and fresh. 'Vegetarian-fed' is another misleading label claim. Chickens are omnivores and want to eat bugs and worms alongside nutritious chicken feed.
Cage-free is yet another misunderstood label. It can paint a picture that hens are free to roam in the grass, but Rothschild says 'these hens barely see the light of day.'
'They're not locked in a cage, but they're in very crowded, large buildings,' she says. 'They rarely even have windows.'
Cage-free hens are not, in fact, free. They are housed inside large, cramped barn structures and rarely, if ever, go outdoors.
Adobe
Consumers who value hen welfare and premium eggs should look for eggs with 'free-range' or 'pasture-raised' labels. The U.S. Department of Agriculture regulates the use of these terms, which means that eggs labeled 'free-range' or 'pasture-raised' were laid by hens that spent time outdoors, in the sunshine, perching and dustbathing, and foraging for natural critters, Rothschild explains.
The USDA organic label denotes that hens were free to roam, had access to the outdoors and ate organic diets made from feeds produced without conventional pesticides or fertilizers. Another meaningful label, Certified Humane, comes with a guarantee that hens were not raised in cages and were provided the opportunity to express their innate, instinctual behaviors, or, said differently, to act like hens.
'We were the first premium egg, so it made sense that we were going to be the first brand to be Certified Humane,' says Pete & Gerry's CEO Tom Flocco. 'This is a company that's done a lot of things first, and it's consistent with the mission and consistent with walking the talk of caring about the welfare of animals, caring about the family farm.
Getting a meaningful label on your farm's eggs starts with how you raise the chickens. Pete & Gerry's partners with almost 300 family farms across 15 states in what Flocco describes as a 'very different model in terms of hen welfare.'
Smaller-scale family farms are also important for egg safety during the avian influenza crisis. It's often only the family members managing their flock, and having fewer people coming on and off the farm increases biosecurity, reducing the risk that hens will become infected with the contagious, viral disease.
Partnering with family farms and prioritizing hen welfare is better for the hens and better for consumers: Healthy hens lay better eggs.
The Barry Family, one of Pete & Gerry's nearly 300 family farm partners.
Pete & Gerry's
'You can tell in a second when an egg didn't come from a healthy hen,' says Flocco. The telltale signs: weak shells, pale yolks and runny egg whites.
For consumers who purchase premium eggs, the words printed on the colorful Pete & Gerry's carton — healthy hens, healthy eggs, healthy planet — are not just marketing, but a promise.
'Hen welfare does matter, not only because it's the right thing to do but also because it makes for a better product and a better experience for you as a consumer,' Flocco says. 'You bring them home and you crack them and you eat them and you say, 'Wow, this is really different and better, and I'm not going back.''