Meant to be Broken: Key takeaways from the third Annual AEB-UEP Joint Conference

October 24, 2024

Nearly 450 American Egg Board (AEB) members, UEP and UEA members and industry stakeholders met at the third Annual Executive Conference, themed “Meant to Be Broken”, on Oct. 14 in Colorado Springs, CO. UEP President and CEO Chad Gregory and AEB President and CEO Emily Metz kicked off the joint general session highlighting egg industry and organizational accomplishments from 2024.

Throughout the week, speakers and panelists provided industry insights and more during the AEB-UEP Joint General Sessions at the Annual Meeting. AEB’s Vice President of Research, Micky Rubin, kicked off the joint programming sharing recent industry sustainability work. Rubin shared that AEB has launched a project to support farmers in answering customer sustainability surveys. By the end of 2024, Rubin said AEB plans to create an online tool application that will allow for the streamlined completion of the master survey.

During the HPAI: What We Know session, industry experts and producers came together to shed light on the ongoing HPAI outbreak. Dr. Ilaria Capua with Johns Hopkins University provided attendees with an outlook on the virus from a circular health perspective, which she said could lead to a new way forward to address the current HPAI outbreak. UEP’s SVP of Food Safety and Regulatory Affairs Oscar Garrison concluded the session by moderating a producer panel between J.T. Dean with Versova and Ted Greidanus with Opal Foods, where they discussed indemnity, vaccination, and the growing concern with the dairy HPAI outbreaks.

Following the HPAI Session, Gregory and Metz led an industry leaders panel, which brought together some of the most influential voices in the egg production sector, featuring Jim Dean, Bob Krouse, Alex Simpson, and Mike West. The panel delved into key challenges and opportunities facing our industry today. With insightful discussions on sustainability, innovation, and market trends, the leaders shared their expertise and visions for the future, inspiring attendees to think boldly about the path ahead.

Wednesday’s Joint Session began with a special guest and keynote speaker, Aron Ralston, who shared his story that inspired 127 Hours, the major motion picture adaptation of his book, where he accidentally dislodged a boulder that crushed and pinned his right hand. After six days of entrapment alone, he freed himself and hiked to a miraculous rescue. Ralston’s story of overcoming adversity drew parallels to the challenges the agricultural community faces and exemplifies the theme of the Joint Annual Conference.

David Portalatin with Circana provided an engaging presentation around insights and trends within the foodservice landscape. Portalatin shared meaningful findings around eating patterns in America to help attendees understand today’s dynamic food and beverage landscape. Portalatin said this data can help the industry identify new growth areas for a variety of consumption types.

AEB's Nate Hedtke moderated an innovations panel with representatives Andrea Schwenk and Logan Soraci with Egglife Foods to highlight the versatility of eggs and how the industry can leverage its adaptability to better meet customer needs.

As in-ovo sexing technologies make their way to the U.S., UEP welcomed Dr. Rudi Preisinger with EW Group to share an in-depth overview of the rapidly developing in-ovo sexing landscape.

Representatives from Bader Rutter Agency unveiled a new campaign to promote UEP Certified Cage Free entitled The Unscrambled Egg. UEP and Bader Rutter continue to work behind the scenes on the campaign and plan to share more information in the coming weeks. Afterward, Metz and Gregory facilitated a Joint Town Hall Q&A to allow attendees to share their thoughts on the future of the egg industry and how the organizations will continue representing the egg industry.