THE BRITISH Free Range Egg Producers Association has found ‘gross imbalance in egg supply contracts’ and following a consultation which launches today, hopes to reform supply contracts to ensure fairer terms for producers.

A team of legal experts from Birketts LLP examined contracts provided by producers and found that terms of agreements are grossly imbalanced in favour of buyers.

The lawyers found numerous areas requiring improvement, including; pricing and payment terms – which vary massively between agreements – and termination which, in some cases, is weighted entirely towards packers.

BFREPA chief executive Robert Gooch has today opened up a dialog with 41 packers outlining the organisation’s areas of concern and asking for feedback.

“Producers have a right to a fair contract which gives them confidence to continue to invest in their businesses and produce a great product,” stressed Mr Gooch.

“Our findings are that contracts are very one sided in favour of the buyer, which is to be expected when it is the packer offering the terms,” he explained.

“Our end game is to arm free range producers with a model contract which stands up to legal scrutiny. This can be used as a barometer for fairness when producers are offered contracts in the future,” he concluded.

The consultation will close in February, when work will begin on drawing up the model contracts. There will be available to its members to enable them to secure fairer terms when negotiating with customers.