Packing Centres

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Noble Foods Shell Egg Division has two main packing centres:

Lincolnshire

Our main centre is based in Lincolnshire and is the largest Free Range packing centre in the world, operating 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Originally built in 1974, the site grades 3 million eggs every day and over 20 million a week. The Lincolnshire centre also acts as the ‘Consolidation Hub’ for the division handling over 32 million eggs a week.

The site in Lincolnshire has pioneered automation in egg handling and bio-security enabling continued operational and egg quality improvements. We have implemented a number of key projects in recent years one of which was the introduction of a ‘Plastic Tray System’. Every tray, divider and pallet is washed and sanitized after every trip allowing each one to be re-used. The trays provide more stability for eggs in transit from farms thus reducing the amount of damages received upon arrival at the packing centre.

The grading of eggs is now largely automated enabling quick and efficient packing. Un-graded eggs are automatically de-palletized and then checked for size, weight and defects by high-tech detection equipment. Once packed the eggs are moved to finished product palletization.

Both sites now have state-of-the-art machinery that can place individual leaflets into each pack of eggs. This equipment is used for our branded products as a tool to communicate with consumers.

Fife

Servicing the North of England and Scotland, the Fife packing centre was built in 1970 and recently refurbished in 2008. Now boasting the latest state of the art grading machine, the centre handles a throughput of around 7 million eggs a week. The pioneering automation started in Lincolnshire and has now been implemented at Fife, ensuring both packing centres operate to the same high standards.

Distribution

Noble operate over 160 vehicles from 7 sites on a 24/7 basis, employing over 150 full-time drivers. Eggs are collected from over 325 individual farm producers located throughout England, Scotland and Wales. This egg is then transferred to one of our packing centres, where it is packed for delivery to customers.

Customer deliveries are made 7 days a week on temperature controlled vehicles direct to store or to regional distribution centres. Our fleet covers over 11 million kilometres per year, consuming 3 million litres of fuel.