American Egg Board Aims to Spur Rapid Export Growth, Starting with Indonesia

USDA trade mission to Indonesia kicks off 2026 egg industry push to diversify U.S. supply distribution and offset domestic market conditions.

Chicago, IL (February 2, 2026) – American Egg Board (AEB) leadership and U.S. egg producers are accompanying officials from the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service and state departments of agriculture, agribusiness executives and representatives from other U.S. commodities on a trade mission to Jakarta, Indonesia, February 2–5, 2026. The trade mission is the first in a series of strategic international engagements slated by AEB this year to catalyze expansion of U.S. egg and egg product exports to diversify sales distribution long-term and address current domestic market conditions with urgency.

“Exports represent a critical and largely untapped strategic opportunity for U.S. egg producers to create new demand, improve returns and increase stability,” said Emily Metz, American Egg Board president and CEO. “There has never been a more important — or more promising — time to find homes for U.S. eggs beyond our borders. U.S. egg producers are facing the lowest domestic wholesale prices we have seen in decades. This won’t be solved overnight, but with the right market access and trade policies in place, taking our incredible, high-quality U.S. eggs and egg products global will be AEB’s focus this year.”

The U.S. exports only about 3%-4% of total egg production annually, while other U.S. animal-sourced agricultural commodities like pork, chicken and dairy export 15-30 percent of their domestic production. Trade mission delegate Sean Delano, who heads business development for Mid-States Specialty Eggs, says U.S. egg producers are increasingly recognizing the growth potential in international markets like Indonesia, along with the benefits of diversification.

“We see immense value in these trade missions for the understanding and access they provide. When you couple the international appetite we see for the quality attributes of U.S. eggs — safety, production standards, etc. — with unmet demand for niche product like organic or halal, markets like Indonesia look really promising and provide a potential hedge against the ebbs and flows of the U.S. domestic market,” Delano said.

As the fourth-most-populous nation in the world, Indonesia is a particularly attractive market opportunity for U.S. egg producers. The U.S. is the fourth-largest supplier of agricultural products to Indonesia, and while U.S. eggs perform well elsewhere in Southeast Asia, U.S. exports to Indonesia are disproportionately low compared to other commodities. Despite strong domestic shell egg production, the country remains structurally dependent on imports for processed egg ingredients used in food manufacturing, baking, and foodservice, and Indonesia represents a strategic and underserved market for U.S. egg products, particularly specialty dried egg products.

“To date, US egg products have had limited presence in this market, creating a clear opportunity for engagement. With proven food safety standards, reliable supply, and halal-compliant processing, the U.S. egg industry can play a larger role in meeting Indonesia’s growing demand. This trade mission is a critical step toward establishing long-term commercial partnerships and positioning U.S. eggs more strongly in Indonesia,” said Thomas Tan, ASEAN region consultant for the USA Poultry & Egg Export Council (USAPEEC).

A new U.S.-Indonesia trade framework brokered by the Trump administration in 2025, taking effect this year, offers further incentive by removing tariffs on more than 99% of U.S. food and agricultural products and exempting them from licensing requirements.

“This trade deal creates an unprecedented opportunity for American farmers, ranchers and agribusinesses to gain more access to Southeast Asia’s largest market,” said Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs Luke J. Lindberg in a press release. “This mission is well-timed to connect U.S. exporters with key buyers and meet Indonesia’s growing demand for high–quality American agricultural goods — boosting rural economies and keeping U.S. products globally competitive.”

The USDA FAS agenda for the trade mission includes networking events, plenary sessions and briefings with market experts, Indonesian importers, and government officials, as well as customer facility tours and operations visits, and culturally immersive events. Egg industry delegates will further benefit from a special itinerary of meetings with importers, ingredient distributors and bakery customers facilitated by the AEB in partnership with USAPEEC.

The AEB in partnership with USAPEEC has scheduled additional high-impact international engagements throughout the year in key markets including the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, South Korea and Japan to expose U.S. egg producers to global export opportunities poised to drive long-term growth and greater stability for the U.S. egg industry.

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About the American Egg Board (AEB)

Home of the Incredible Egg, the AEB supports America’s egg farmers in its mission to increase demand for U.S. eggs and egg products through research, education and promotion. The AEB is located in Chicago, Ill. For more, visit IncredibleEgg.org.