When Evansville Business spoke with Prime Foods for the April/May 2014 story “Eggs by the Million,” the Boonville, Indiana, egg processor churned out one million hard-boiled eggs each day, employed about 100 people, and had just begun to scratch the surface of retail offerings.
“Since then, we have added protein snack kits, deviled eggs, pickled eggs, and a variety of hard-cooked egg pouches,” General Manager Dylan Houck says.
Its popular Kramer Farms hard-boiled egg packs and Pro-Go Protein Packs have led to more partnerships with restaurants and food service providers across the country. Hoosier farmers benefited from the more than 3 million pounds of eggshells — a high-calcium soil supplement — Prime Foods recycled in 2019. On the whole, business is strong.
Avian influenza, however, has made for a challenging year for the poultry industry, affecting supply, cost, and availability, Houck says.
“We have been fortunate to maintain a steady supply of eggs, albeit at a considerable cost,” he says. “The pandemic was certainly a trying time for our business. Without exception, our supply of raw materials, new equipment, and maintenance parts faced some level of disruption.”
As well as egg production for restaurants and food service, the company — founded in 1936 by the Kramer family — also offers private label and contract manufacturing services, leading to continued employment growth at Prime Foods’ plant in Warrick County.
And that daily hard-boiled egg production benchmark? It now surpasses 1.5 million.
