As sustainability disclosure requests proliferate across food retail, CPG and foodservice, egg producers are increasingly being asked to respond to lengthy, technical questions about sustainability metrics – often with little guidance and limited relevance to on-farm realities.
To help close that gap, the American Egg Board (AEB) has launched a new sustainability tool designed specifically for US egg producers, with the goal of simplifying how farms measure, understand and communicate sustainability data to their customers.
“The genesis of this tool was really us hearing from our egg farmers,” said Mickey Rubin, VP of research at the American Egg Board and executive director of the Egg Nutrition Center.
Producers, he said, were facing an onslaught of inconsistent sustainability inquiries from retailers, large CPGs and restaurant customers – and struggling to translate the terminology into an egg production context.
“They came to us and said, ‘We need help,’” Rubin said. “‘We’re not speaking the same language, the questions aren’t relevant to an egg farm situation, and there’s a lot of sustainability-related jargon we don’t understand.’”
Built around real producer and buyer pain points
Rather than creating a generic reporting framework, AEB built the tool by first collecting sustainability questionnaires already circulating across the food system. The organization then interviewed two groups: a cohort of egg producers who had been fielding these requests, and sustainability representatives from 10 of the largest egg buyers in the US across retail, CPG and foodservice.
The result was a streamlined survey of roughly 40-45 questions, organized around five sustainability pillars:
- Animal welfare
- Climate (greenhouse gas emissions)
- Environment (non-GHG impacts)
- Food safety
- Social and labor
“If a producer can answer these questions,” Rubin said, “they’ll be able to address whatever comes their way from a customer.”
The tool functions as an online, producer-only platform that not only asks questions buyers care about, but also provides guidance on how to answer them – including definitions, context and, where needed, calculations specific to egg production.
A built-in solution for emissions reporting
One of the biggest challenges producers flagged was greenhouse gas reporting, particularly questions around Scope 1 (direct emissions from a company like company vehicles) and Scope 2 (indirect impact from purchased energy) emissions.
“If I’m a producer, I may be asking myself, ‘What are Scope 2 emissions, and how do I calculate those?’” Rubin said.
While greenhouse gas calculators exist, AEB found that none were tailored to egg production systems. In response, the organization built its own calculator directly into the tool, guiding producers on which data to enter and how to determine emissions in a way that reflects egg farm operations.
Beyond calculations, producers also wanted a way to summarize and share their data in a format that supports real dialogue with customers.
“Can I produce a report that allows me to have a conversation?” Rubin said. “Here’s what our data looks like. Here are the answers to the questions you’re asking.”
Context matters – and the tool is built to reflect that
As AEB developed the platform, Rubin said one of the more surprising lessons was how many external factors can influence year-over-year sustainability metrics without reflecting changes in farm practices.
Mergers and acquisitions, for example, can significantly alter a company’s environmental footprint even if on-farm operations remain the same. Disease outbreaks such as avian influenza can also skew data by temporarily reducing production.
“It’s not that they suddenly did anything differently,” Rubin said. “These are circumstances that impact a footprint but aren’t necessarily indicative of how a producer operates.”
Accounting for that context, he said, is essential for producers reporting data and buyers interpreting it.
A producer-funded, evolving resource
The sustainability tool is available to US egg producers as part of their participation in the American Egg Board. While Rubin hesitated to call it “free,” he emphasized that it is fully funded by producer dollars and included as part of AEB’s broader support efforts.
The platform is also not static. Launched earlier this year, the tool is already slated for upgrades, with future iterations expected to evolve alongside buyer expectations and the broader sustainability landscape.
“What’s important to an egg buyer today might be different tomorrow,” Rubin said. “We want to make sure we’re staying on the cutting edge.”
Why it matters for the egg category
Beyond helping producers respond to customer requests, Rubin emphasized that the tool is designed to deliver value back to the farm.
“Ultimately, it provides two benefits,” he said. “One is communication with the customer. The second is providing information to that producer that’s material to their business, their efficiency and how they operate.”
Looking ahead, AEB also sees an opportunity to engage more directly with buyers, positioning the tool as a shared reference point across the supply chain.
“Down the road, this may be the only tool a producer needs to submit a report that gives a buyer – whether retail, CPG or restaurant – the information they need,” Rubin said.
