Groups Aim to Enhance Packaging, Delivery, and Refrigeration, While Also Providing Educational Resources to Food Banks and Pantries Across the Country

(CHICAGO/ATLANTA) January 24, 2023 – The American Egg Board (AEB) and HATCH, a nonprofit organization based in Carmel, Ind., have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) aimed at supporting the role of eggs in hunger relief efforts, including nutrition education, communication and promotion, as well as storage and transport.

The announcement was made as part of the Protein Secure: Fighting Food Insecurity panel at IPPE’s annual exposition in Atlanta, Ga. AEB President and CEO Emily Metz joined Jeff Simmons, CEO of Elanco and HATCH For Hunger’s chairman, Chad Gregory, CEO and president of United Egg Producers, Kyle Waide, president and CEO of Atlanta Community Food Bank and Danny Leckie, executive director of HATCH for Hunger, in a panel discussion focused on the important role animal sourced protein foods can play in fighting food insecurity and malnutrition.

One of the many challenges facing food banks and pantries is adequate packaging and refrigeration for perishable donated foods, such as eggs. Working in partnership, HATCH and AEB will produce co-branded egg cartons that can be utilized by egg producers for storage and transport of donated eggs. Additionally, HATCH and AEB are exploring additional opportunities to enhance refrigeration capacity onsite at food banks and pantries.

“Egg farmers have long been committed to ensuring that every American has access to the incredible protein that is the egg. That commitment includes donations of eggs from coast to coast that totaled 90 million last year,” said Metz. “During this time of heightened food price and supply chain volatility, our new partnership with HATCH will facilitate even greater donations in the coming years through enhanced packaging, transport and refrigeration. We know that eggs are one of the most requested items at food banks but that there are challenges for food banks in obtaining and storing eggs. Our farmers want to be part of that solution – ensuring that every American has access to the world’s most perfect protein.”

Food insecurity impacts roughly 40 million Americans, including 13 million children. Scores of people regularly rely on food banks to not only supply food, but healthy food.

“This new partnership with the American Egg Board elevates animal protein’s role in bringing food security to vulnerable communities across the country,” Leckie said. “Coming together, we increase our ability to create generational change in local communities giving consumers the tools they need to build better lives starting with wholesome animal protein. We’re excited to see how we can enhance our efforts to bring protein-rich meals and nutrition education to our audiences through this joint effort.”

For media inquiries, contact:
AEB: Marc Dresner, mdresner@aeb.org
HATCH: Danny Leckie, dleckie@hatchforhunger.com

About HATCH
Launched in 2015, HATCH delivered 60,000 dozen eggs to food banks and pantries around the Indianapolis area. Today, HATCH delivers nearly 600,000 dozen eggs each month throughout the country. It is the goal of HATCH to sustainably deliver 100,000,00 protein-rich meals to hunger relief organizations by 2025. For more, visit hatchforhunger.com

About the American Egg Board (AEB)

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