Ready Egg, which is a family-run egg processor based in Lisnakea, Co. Fermanagh, has announced that it has invested £2.9 million into machinery such as an egg-breaking plant, a reverse osmosis plant, and robotics.

The company stated that the investment will "boost productivity and accelerate sales growth", with it already processing more than one billion eggs each year across its plants in Lisnakea and in Chesterfield in England.

Under the Agri-Food Investment Initiative (AFII), Invest NI has provided more than £500,000 towards the initiative.

Ready Egg

The Economy Minister for Northern Ireland, Caoimhe Archibald visited the Lisnakea plant to take a tour of the facility in light of the new investment.

Minister Archibald said that the investment marked "a significant boost for rural Fermanagh", while also benefiting many small, family-owned farms across the north that are a part of Ready Egg's supply chain.

Charles Crawford, founder of Ready Egg, commented: "We began egg production in Lisnaskea in 1975 and have grown Ready Egg into the largest egg processor in the UK and Ireland.

"This investment also underlines our commitment to sustainability by increasing energy efficiency and reducing waste."

Northern Ireland

The director of food and drink at Invest NI, Gráinne Moody noted: "AFII aims to close Northern Ireland’s productivity gap and help local agri-food and drink processors become more competitive.

"So far, the scheme has supported several regional businesses to deliver major productivity projects to improve outputs and introduce cutting-edge robotics and automation

"We’re delighted to be supporting Ready Egg’s investment, which has the potential to boost the company’s productivity by up to 50%, transform its capacity and modernise its processes through digitalisation," she added.