Peter Janssen: "Ultimately, the consumer determines the way we keep chickens".

In December 2020, poultry farmer Peter Janssen from Ysselsteyn launched his 'bleieren', eggs straight from the farmer, produced with respect for animals, people and the environment. The chickens are kept according to the strict certification standards of the On the Way to PlanetProof label. At the same time, the farmer also supplies free-range, free-range and Beter Leven eggs. In an interview with Nieuwe Oogst, he explains that he wants to produce what the consumer wants.

Manufactured and seasoned

Janssen grew up on his parents' farm among the chickens. After completing the HAS in Den Bosch, he became a partner with his parents in 2000. At that time, they had 90,000 laying hens in traditional cage systems. At 44 years of age, Janssen is a seasoned poultry farmer. Barely three years after he joined the partnership and the first new house had just been built, bird flu broke out. The transport ban that followed caused the manure to accumulate. As a result of scalding, two older stables burned down completely in the middle of summer 2003. "It was a very emotional period, but with help from the municipality we were able to move forward with a new barn a year later."

Since Janssen took the helm alone, he has also experienced peaks and valleys. After new major investments in 2013, egg prices fell sharply. "That caused a lot of stress," he says. The fipronil affair, in which his farms were spared, actually meant extra sales due to the tight egg market.

Determination

In his hometown of Ysselsteyn, Peter Janssen now owns two barns, each with space for 72,000 laying hens. One has recently been converted for the Blei concept. Just across the border in Germany, he co-owns a small free-range chicken farm, and then there is the new barn where he is working with the Claessen family on the new concept Yverde: the production of 3-star Beter Leven eggs. "I don't want to just deliver for the pallet of the egg trader, but rather have more say in the final product. Ultimately, the consumer decides how we will raise chickens. Whether it's free-range, free-range, organic or our concept."

Blei

With the new Blei concept, Janssen is shortening the chain of fresh eggs. The concept includes fewer laying hens per square meter (eight in total), additional daylight in the house, feeding residual streams such as wheat meal and cookie mix, the use of packaging materials that consist of half grass fiber and the generation of green energy. Janssen has acquired the On the Way to PlanetProof quality mark, with which he has meticulously checked the requirements for production. This makes him the seventh poultry farmer in the Netherlands. He now invests not only in animal welfare, but also in the environment and in the health of humans and animals.

In the processing room, Janssen can show off the eggs and the newly completed packing station. "We want to bring sales to us by making the egg chain super short. That means we sort and pack ourselves," says the entrepreneur. At the same time, it makes the ecological footprint of the 'bleieren' a bit smaller again.

"In the coming years we will see how the concept works out. I get new chickens every twenty weeks, so switching is relatively easy. If the consumer or the retail don't embrace the concept, we'll rebuild the house. If it catches on, we will expand further."

Read the full interview with Peter Janssen on New Harvest.