Egg firm expansion boosted by £800k investment

Husband and wife team Ben and Emma Mosey acquired the retail and egg production business Minskip Farm Shop last month, with plans to make the site into a family attraction.

Emma Mosey told FoodManufacture.co.uk: “What we’re hoping to do is expand into a café to showcase the eggs and vegetables that we’re famous for.​

“We’d also like to expand into a tourist attraction based around egg production for ​[children under five-years old], where kids and adults can come to learn about the farming process.”​

Hire more staff​

Mosey said expansion plans would take about 6–12 months to be completed before work started. The company also planned to hire more staff in the coming months.

The business produces eggs which are sold through its farm shop on site. It also sells food from local producers, including snack manufacturer Yorkshire Crisps and ready meals producer Simply Suppers.

Minskip also sells its eggs to local egg packer Chippindale, which supplies to supermarkets nationwide.

Mosey added: “We will continue to grow seasonal produce on the farm and support the shop’s local and very loyal customers. We very much want high quality, locally grown and sourced produce to remain at the heart of the business.”​

‘Locally grown and sourced produce’​

The purchase was handled by Langleys Solicitors York and included farmland, agricultural buildings and the farm shop.  

Lawyer in commercial property at Langleys Rachel Witherick said: “We are very pleased to support Ben and Emma as they embark on their first shop and food production venture. Minskip is well placed to flourish even further as part of their vision for the business.”​

Minskip was established in 1979 by previous owners David and Pauline Barker. It produces about 5,500 eggs a day and sells between 500 and 1,000 of them a day through the farm shop.

The UK produced about 10,372M eggs in 2016, according to the British Egg Industry Council. About 1,996M eggs were imported, while 131M eggs were exported.

It estimated 23% of UK eggs are used by food manufacturers.