Last year when Nutri-Oeuf bought Best Choice Eggs from
Svante Lind, its spokesman insisted to me that neither Burnbrae Farms nor L.H. Gray
and Sons Ltd. were in any way involved in the purchase.
He said "we are competitors."
Now, however, comes news that Nutri-Oeuf has likely become a
partner with L.H. Gray and Sons Ltd.
Gray owned 60 per cent of Ovale Eggs LLP.
That was before this terse paragraph appeared on the website
of the Canadian Poultry and Egg Processors Council:
“Last April, Nutri-Oeuf Inc. acquired an important
part of Ovale Eggs LLP. Nutri-Oeuf Inc. now becomes a partner with GGSS in
Ovale Eggs LLP.”
The Nutri-Oeuf purchase of Best Choice Eggs accomplished
what Burnbrae and Gray had not been able to do earlier: purchase Best Choice to
eliminate it as a competing egg grader in Ontario.
The Ontario Farm Products Marketing Commission has finally
said it’s going to inquire into the operations of the Egg Farmers of Ontario
marketing board and into the industry. It’s going to appoint somebody to
conduct the inquiry, but there won’t be any public hearings.
The Competition Bureau in Ottawa is known to be looking into
the way Burnbrae and Gray dominate the egg-grading and egg-processing business
and whether they do a lot of consulting with each other such as discussing
pricing and who will get which retail clients.
