Cornish egg producer St. Ewe Eggs has secured a six-figure commercial bank loan to purchase a state-of-the-art egg pasteurising unit.

It will allow the family run business to offer pasteurised eggs to its customers across the UK for the first time, tapping into the demand for liquid egg whites in the sports nutrition market, as well as whole and separated pasteurised eggs for the baking industry.

The £430,000 finance package from HSBC will also fund the construction of the building to house the unit, as well as the equipment and on-site infrastructure needed to run the pasteuriser plant.

Rebecca Tonks, one of three family owners at St. Ewe Eggs, said: “With the new unit installed, we’ll be looking to create two new jobs and boost annual profit over the next two years.”

Stephen Hancock, HSBC area director for Cornwall, Devon and Somerset, added: “The team at St. Ewe Eggs identified a gap in the market and can now provide clients across the UK with Devon and Cornwall’s only British Lion Quality accredited eggs. The new unit will allow the business to expand and meet its growing customer bases’ evolving needs.”

St. Ewe Eggs is based at Ventonwyn Farm in Cornwall and is owned and run by Richard and Christine Tonks and their daughter Rebecca.