Competitive analysis of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid-enriched eggs in the Republic of Croatia

Abstract

SUMMARY Functional food is defined as food to which certain ingredients have been added, from which ingredients have been removed or in which ingredients have been changed. Fatty acids (omega-3 and omega-6), lutein, organic selenium, vitamin E, vitamin C or other nutrients or nutraceuticals may be used in the production of table eggs. The nutritional value of eggs can be manipulated by changing the compound feed used for laying hens. In this paper, the PESTLE and Porter analyses were used to investigate and analyse the factors affecting the production of eggs enriched with omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (n-3 PUFA), and we used data from the Croatian Statistical Office as secondary data in the paper. The PESTLE analysis score of + 383 indicates that environmental factors have a stimulating effect on egg production. A comparison of the achieved score of + 383 with the maximum possible score of + 750 indicates that the analysis produced a score that is approximately equal to half of the maximum possible score. Interventions that promote differentiated and targeted feeding of laying hens could lead to major changes and dramatic improvements in the production of table eggs, thereby leading to systematic product differentiation and making producers competitive. The implementation of such interventions requires cooperation between economic actors (producers) and scientific institutions.