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April 25, 2024
Established in 1999, Egg Innovations is committed to working in harmony with nature on a journey to make the Earth better for the next generation, one egg at a time!
Egg Innovations brings free-range, pasture-raised, and organic eggs to consumers nationwide as the premium alternative to the cage-free market. The chickens have the freedom to move around naturally to socialize and have access to the outdoors.
From the family farmers caring for flocks to the team of employees handling the eggs; the company is committed to doing the right thing and putting the best foot forward always.
The team lives by the mission and it’s truly who they are and what they do. Working with 100+ family farms, Egg Innovations provides premium eggs under the Blue Sky Family Farms and Helpful Hens brands. Egg Innovations partners together with family farmers across Heartland, caring for thousands of acres of pastureland. This responsibility led to an epiphany and inspired Egg Innovations to pursue opportunities to provide long-term benefits to the chickens and land under its care while adhering to its organization’s mission.
A visionary, John Brunnquell, Ph.D., President and CEO of Egg Innovations is a purpose-driven leader and entrepreneur, who is fulfilling his egg-centric passion in the most sustainable and environment-friendly way.
He is the epitome of innovation and entrepreneurial leadership; he meets demands by being aware and vigilant in anticipating customers’ future values and needs. He always has an eye set on the future.
Founding Egg Innovations demonstrates John’s commitment as he built the organization by serving the mission: Chickens. People. Planet.
John is excellent at identifying early on what consumers are looking for within specialty eggs, recognizing the gaps, and filling those needs. For example, he noticed the world was hungry for a lower-cholesterol egg and found a natural solution during his Master’s research. This research earned him the patent: Low Cholesterol Eggs and Method of Selecting Same, which focused on a specific diet for hens to also benefit consumers by naturally lowering the cholesterol of eggs.
A proficient in the field, John’s extensive experience allows him to see the bigger picture as he looks for ways to evolve for the better. He grew up as a third-generation farmer and understands the day-to-day demands of farm life and animal care. With his experience on and off the farm, he has pioneered a better way to house and care for hens, ultimately producing a better egg.
His ground-breaking endeavors are rooted in a passion for finding a better way to do things; this is a core value for him and his company. For John, finding a way to raise hens that embraced their natural preferences and behaviors opened the opportunity to lead the industry in a new way. He was fierce and focused and embraced his unique path. When others in the industry believed this approach wasn’t cost-effective, John proved otherwise. He revolutionized the industry with the launch of Blue Sky Family Farms, working with family farmers to provide premium care to the flocks by letting chickens be chickens.
These experiences culminated in John earning his Ph.D. in avian ethology. He continuously applies his commitment and knowledge to set new standards and provide thought leadership that drives the industry forward.
Egg Innovations’ ESG mission is the foundation for how it does business. The pillars of the organization lie deeply rooted in its mission of Chickens. People. Planet. Understanding these and nurturing humane care for Chickens and Planet is Egg Innovations Commitment. The organization’s every decision has consideration and discussion given to how this helps and benefits the care and health of its chickens, its talented team of people, and its never-ending commitment to the longevity of its planet Earth.
Farm. Flock. Family. Blue Sky Family Farms is home to their farmers and chickens. Blue Sky Family Farms ensures its chickens have the best to live as nature intended and embrace their natural behaviors by providing an environment where they can perch, scratch, dust bathe, pasture, and socialize. It is committed that every single one of its eggs comes from a chicken that gets to live her best life because it believes that healthy and happy chickens lay delicious eggs.
Helpful Hens is on a mission to restore the soil and rejuvenate the Earth, working in harmony with nature. This first to the market premium eggs through regenerative farming, Helpful Hens are solely produced on regenerative farms to promote soil health, carbon sequestration, diverse pastures, and building ecosystems as its hens lead the efforts as they aerate, graze, and fertilize the land.
Bringing regenerative farming practices into its organic production empowers the land, benefits the pastures, and enriches the environment to produce earth-friendly Helpful Hens eggs. Together with their helpful hens and family farmers, Egg Innovations is restoring topsoil, fostering vibrant ecosystems, fighting climate change, and creating a brighter, healthier future while minimizing its carbon footprint.
John is a pioneer in specialty eggs, going beyond cage-free. He is a third-generation farmer, committed to advancing the organic egg category expanding Egg Innovation’s team from a single office out of his family’s homestead to a thriving business headquartered in Warsaw, Indiana.
Today, being a veteran in the field, he has no signs of stopping and he is truly an “egghead”. He has served as president of the Organic Egg Farmers of America and provides committee leadership as he has been instrumental in advancing animal welfare and the integrity of the organic seal. This visionary leadership allows Egg Innovations to spearhead the growth and diversification of the egg case by bringing quality specialty eggs to meet consumer demands.
The eco-consciousness of Helpful Hens is born from John’s vision and is a beacon to Egg Innovations’ ESG commitment. The Helpful Hens award-winning (silver place 2022 Dieline), earth-friendly packaging is 100% post-consumer, recycled paper fiber cartons. The bright and colorful logo and images tell a story with eco-conscientious water-based, plant-based inks.
Egg Innovations are focused on high-quality animal care and have third-party verification of its care practices through American Humane Certification. Additionally, the organization is pursuing third-party certification for its regenerative agriculture farming practices. Both brands also offer USDA organic-certified products as well.
Additionally, Egg Innovations’ was named the Best Specialty Eggs Producer 2021 – USA & Innovation Award for Regenerative Farming Practices – USA. The 2022 Eco-Friendly Egg Brand and the Helpful Hens packaging earned silver in the 2022 Dieline Awards.
Helpful Hens also became the fastest-growing brand in the premium egg category, according to SPINS data reporting in Q4 of 2022. Egg Innovations also hosted the first Sustainability Showcase on the pastures of one of our regenerative farms.
Egg Innovations’ social media continues to gather a large number of user-generated content that comes from posts with compliments, tags with accolades, and deliciously beautiful and nutritious meals featuring the beautiful brands and fantastic eggs provided by one and only Egg Innovations.
Egg Innovations aims to continue growing into new markets to meet the demand from consumers for its products and to support the Helpful Hens brand as it is the fastest-growing premium egg in the market. Helpful Hens has successfully revolutionized the egg case by meeting consumer demand for sustainability with eggs that taste amazing too.
Further, Egg Innovations is growing its marketing share through online shopping. Instacart named Blue Sky Family Farms as one of their fastest-growing emerging brands of 2022 at #9 on their top 75 list.
In the Natural Channel, Blue Sky Family Farms ranked second highest in the category with a 25% increase in overall dollar growth. Combined, Helpful Hens and Blue Sky Family Farms are growing 3x faster than the total subcategory in the Natural Channel. For multi-outlet retailers (MULO), the combined brands outpaced the overall subcategory with over 40% growth year-over-year. This impressive pairing of Helpful Hens and Blue Sky Family Farms drives velocity in the egg case as the consumer enjoy, repurchase, and demand growth continues for this specialty market
