Enhancing the value of laying hens through the development of new products

2024-05-16

According to official data, the laying hen sector generates a considerable number of by-products. Once these hens reach the end of their productive life, approximately 18 months, they are regularly destined for incineration or used as animal feed. Despite being used to make other food products in several other countries, laying hens in the West have lost value.

This is why the MUSKA collaboration project was created: to maximise the value of spent laying hens for making broth and to create new pickled products using apple cider vinegar produced in the Basque Country. Delikatetxe Koop. Elk. Txikia and Sagar Zirkle S.L. are the leading Basque companies in this project, with Leartiker participating as a technological advisor.

Escabeche, or pickling, is a food preservation method that uses vinegar as the main ingredient – a simple marinade made with oil, vinegar, bay leaves, and peppercorns.

The most popular escabeche products for both producers and consumers are fish and seafood. However, diverse types of pickled poultry can also be found on the market, the most widely produced and consumed being quail. However, other types of poultry, including duck, partridge or chicken meat, are also pickled.

A vinegar produced in the Basque Country with special aromatic properties is used to make the pickled product for the MUSKA project, providing the new product with unique flavour and texture.

Since the project's launch, Leartiker's facilities in Markina-Xemein have been conducting various tests to develop prototypes of shredded chicken (leg meat)in escabeche. Different product formulations have been meticulously tested under precisely defined technical and technological parameters, and various process variables have been evaluated. The next steps in this culinary journey will be consumer evaluations of the prototypes, followed by pre-scaling tests at Delikatetxe's facilities.

The goal is to craft a ready-to-eat gourmet product that requires no cooking, making it an ideal choice for a cold dish or as an addition to a fresh salad.

Delikatetxe’s unwavering commitment to raising the value of laying hens led them to collaborate with Leartiker Tecnología de Alimentos as they seek out new avenues of diversification. This partnership sparked the concept of fusing the rich flavours of laying hens with the tangy notes of apple vinegar, resulting in an entirely new pickled product.

This project has also fostered a remarkable synergy between two production companies from distinct sectors, brought together by MUSKA to collectively create an innovative, local, and sustainable offering. A local, sustainable product that is not only healthy and nutritious but also embodies a commitment to KM0 principles.

Delikatetxe was founded with the mission of restoring the once highly prized hen meat to its former glory after it has gradually faded from our culinary landscapes. This exceptionally nutritious, protein-rich meat, bursting with flavour, has inspired the company’s strategic quest to diversify and create products that showcase the hen as a star ingredient, sourced from free-range farms across the Basque Country and Navarre. Joining forces in this endeavour is Satxa Zeberio, the visionary founder of Sagar Zirkle. A local organic farmer from Errezil (Gipuzkoa), Satxa crafts natural cider using 100% organic native Euskal Sagardoa apples. Sagar Zirkle was born out of a commitment to sustainability, nurturing the land and environment while harnessing the possibilities that apples offer. In addition to cider and juices, the company produces an apple vinegar made in the Basque Country with organic cider under the prestigious Euskal Sagardoa denomination.

The MUSKA project is co-funded by the BERRIKER 2023 program (Aid for research, development, and innovation in the agricultural, forestry, fishery, and aquaculture sectors of the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country, 2023), which aims to develop an innovative product using locally sourced raw materials and ingredients.