What came first, the chicken or the egg? The age-old conundrum has got a new twist. The question is no longer what, but which egg? Brown or white, free-range or cage-free, country or organic? Or, perhaps one fortified with omega 3, vitamin D3, or more protein? And then there is the question of price. When an ordinary egg costs ₹6.50-7.50 and its premium cousin can set you back by ₹30, what exactly are you paying four-five times for?
For Mumbai-based film writer and lyricist Abhiruchi Chand, whose family goes through about 60 eggs a week, protein is a priority. "Ever since we have become aware of the fact that protein is what keeps us going, we believe we should have as many eggs as we can," she says. Chand once bought premium eggs from Nature's Basket. Now, a neighbour who runs a poultry farm delivers free-range eggs. The family's monthly egg bill is around ₹3,000.
ET Bureau
ET BureauCostume designer Shruti Wadetiwar, who has eaten eggs almost every day for over 18 years, is less convinced by the industry's vocabulary. What puzzles her is the proliferation of claims, from orange yolks and high protein to omega-3 and vitamin D3. When did an everyday breakfast food become so complicated?
The answer lies in India's growing protein consciousness, the rising purchasing power and in the business opportunity of turning a commodity into a brand.
Hard shell
India produced 15,700 crore eggs in 2025-26, according to estimates by poultry experts, with nearly 93% sold loose.
Premium or value-added eggs accounted for less than 3% of the market, according to senior executives at Venkateshwara Hatcheries. The segment, they say, is growing at over 15% annually, particularly in urban markets.
The opportunity isn't simply to sell more eggs. It is to persuade consumers to pay more for each one. At the upscale grocery retailer Food Square, eggs feature in over 20% of customer bills, while free-range varieties account for 65-80% of packaged egg sales across all its three stores. "There has been a noticeable shift to packaged options, with customers increasingly prioritising transparency on freshness, sourcing, labelling and animal welfare," says Rugved Vartak, category head, Food Square.
Quick commerce is egging on the consumption. According to a report, "Meeting India's Protein Goals", by Redseer Strategy Consultants earlier this year, some new egg brands derive over 50% of their sales from quick-commerce platforms. For instance, it said leading egg brands are generating a monthly gross merchandise value of ₹5.75 crore on Blinkit.
Eggoz, a Gurgaon-based egg brand, sells white and brown eggs, Protein Plus eggs and free-range eggs. Cofounder and CEO Abhishek Negi says, "For years eggs were bought on the basis of price alone, because an egg looks like any other egg. Now, three things are changing that. One, consumers, especially in cities, want to know if the egg is clean, safe and fresh. Two, younger consumers are thinking about protein. Three, quick commerce has made it normal to order eggs from an app.
ET Bureau
ET BureauBut why does a premium egg cost ₹30?
According to sectoral experts, the production cost of an egg has crossed ₹5.50 and could soon exceed ₹6, largely because of the rising cost of feed and other inputs. Feed accounts for about 75% of production cost. Then, changing the way hens are housed can raise cost by 20-50%, depending on the system and scale. Free-range and cage-free operations require more land and labour, while nutrition-rich eggs require special feed. However, branding and packaging can cost considerably more than the ingredients in the special feed, they say.
For Manjunath Marappan, CEO and founder of Bengaluru-headquartered Happy Hens, the distinction begins with the bird. He says his company raises hens with outdoor access. It subsequently introduced omega-3-enriched eggs, followed by folate and vitamin D varieties. Its eggs now retail at ₹30 apiece. "For those questioning the price, I ask: Have you ever questioned how eggs have managed to remain at almost the same price for more than a decade?"
Shashi Kumar, MD of Akshayakalpa Organic, an organic dairy enterprise in Karnataka, points to the costs consumers don't see. Working with a decentralised network of farmers, it pays them around ₹16 for an egg retailing at about ₹25. Its model involves the indigenous Kaveri breed, organic practices and feed research.
The egg is a premium, wholesome, naturally packaged, unadulterated food capsule. It needs no separate demarcation to prove its worth.
Separate whites from yolks
Some nutritional claims are grounded in facts. Others require a closer look at the fine print. Bhaskar Ganguly, Hyderabad-based veterinarian and former poultry-feed supplement scientist, says fat-soluble nutrients like omega-3 fatty acids and vitamins A, D3 and E can be increased through carefully formulated diet. Protein is another matter. "Feed can'tenhance the protein content of an egg. That goes up only by size-a larger egg will naturally contain more protein," he adds.
A regular egg, weighing 50-60g, provides around 6g of protein. Eggoz selects bigger eggs, weighing 61-65g and containing approximately 7g of protein, for its Protein Plus range.
Labelling needs to be more informative, says Dr Nandita Iyer, health coach and author of No Gods, No Gurus: A Radical Guide to Your Well Being. "If a brand claims higher protein, the comparison should be with an ordinary egg of a specified weight, not an unspecified average. The same applies to omega-3 and vitamin-enriched varieties: how much nutrient does each egg contain, how does it compare with a regular egg and what proportion of a person's daily requirement does it provide?" she asks. "Consumers and brands have to pay attention to the back of the pack."
Even the colour of an egg can be confusing. Is brown better than white? Brown shells are determined largely by the breed of the hen; it is not an indication of nutritional superiority. Yolk colour is influenced by feed pigments: maize produces yellow yolks, while carotenoid-rich ingredients create a deep orange yolk. A brighter yolk, however, is no certificate of better overall nutrition.
Enriched eggs can help people whose diets lack particular nutrients, says Luke Coutinho, lifestyle expert. "There's no magic in one food. But if anything comes close, it's the egg," he says. "What bothers me is that marketing has convinced a lot of people that if an egg costs more, it must be safer or healthier."
Food scientist Sudheera Polavarapu, cofounder of Ahmedabad-based Nook Pantry, calls it the health halo effect-a cognitive bias where one positive attribute makes a food seem healthier than it actually is.
Free bird
Nutrition isn't the only reason to spend more on an egg, says Marappan. He believes shoppers are extending their concern for pets to the welfare of farm animals. "This set of consumers is growing. As a consequence, the need for high-welfare products is naturally rising," he says.
A pack should disclose the comparison between its egg and a regular egg. This will help consumers make an informed choice.
For animal welfare, potentially. For nutrition, not necessarily. The bird's outdoor access could be for a couple of hours or longer, but that doesn't automatically make an egg healthier. What you are paying extra is for more land, labour, lower stacking densities and potentially higher production losses.
Free-range production can cost more, but it does not necessarily result in a nutritionally superior egg. Shashi Kiran Lewis of Lewis Natural Foods in Udupi, whose family has been in poultry farming for decades, says anxiety about conventional food production has created a market for expensive alternatives. "It's basically fear and guilt psychosis at work. If a person believes he's eating a healthier egg, he doesn't mind paying a premium," he says.
Where does the egg come from
The irony of the branded egg boom is that while cartons carry more information than ever, consumers may still struggle to establish what they are getting for the premium price. Labels advertise protein, omega-3, vitamins, freshness and farming practices, but rarely offer a like-for-like comparison with a regular egg of the same weight. More information does not necessarily mean greater clarity.
Verification is another challenge. Poultry experts point to the absence of a dedicated third-party verification system for egg-specific marketing terms, including cage-free and farm-fresh. While nutritional claims are subject to broader food-labelling regulations, the consumer has limited means to check whether these promises derive from actual farming practices.
In EU, codes stamped on Class A eggs identify the farming method, country and registered producer. India has no equivalent national shell-stamping system though in April 2025, the Uttar Pradesh government mandated that every egg sold in the state must be stamped with dates of laying and best-before.
We pay farmers ₹16 for an egg that retails at ₹25. Conventional eggs may cost ₹2-4 to produce. Our system is fundamentally different.
Achyuth Reddy Gomaram, MD of Suregrow Farms, which produces Nutrifresh eggs, organises farm visits. Each hen has 100-120 sq ft of outdoor space, compared with the EU free-range benchmark of 43 sq ft. "Feed, land, labour and lower stocking densities all contribute to the price of free-range eggs," he says. His eggs retail at ₹25 apiece. He acknowledges that consumers have limited ways to verify free-range claims minus a farm visit.
For shoppers, the most useful information is the least glamorous: packing and expiry dates, clean and uncracked shells, proper storage, a traceable source and a nutrition panel that specifies how much of a nutrient each egg actually provides.
Getting pricey
There is also a larger irony in India's premium egg boom. While brands compete to sell increasingly sophisticated eggs to urban consumers, ordinary eggs are becoming less affordable for many households. A LocalCircles survey in September found that 48% of respondents had reduced the quantity or frequency of their egg purchases following price increases, while 62% reported increases of 10-50% over six months. The report put ex-farm prices at around ₹7 and retail prices at ₹8.50-9.
Poultry experts whom ET spoke to argue that increasing the consumption of affordable, conventional eggs matters more to the country's protein needs than multiplying premium varieties. India's per capita egg availability was 106 in 2024-25. Dr Harshakumar Shetty, GM (Bengaluru), Venkateshwara Hatcheries, says the priority should be to increase consumption rather than introduce more varieties. "The real gap in India is in consumption, not variety of eggs. India's real challenge and opportunity is to take per capita consumption to 385 eggs a year."
Chand, meanwhile, is unlikely to abandon her family's quota of 60 eggs a week. She is content: her eggs come from a farm she knows and protein remains a priority. Her search has ended not with an elaborate nutritional label, but with a trusted source.
So, should you spend more? Coutinho says, "Yes, if you can afford it and when the higher price stands for something you can verify: welfare standards, transparency, nutrient boost. A premium price or a label doesn't guarantee better nutrition."
The trick is knowing what's worth shelling out for.