Not many photos of “long egg” packaging to be found online. Probably because it’s more of a “food service” item than a consumer product. (At least, here, in the U.S.)

Long eggs seem to fall into that category of foodstuffs that are strenuously re-engineered in order to solve fairly trivial problems. Watermelons that roll around and won’t stack efficiently… Hard-boiled eggs that yield inconsistent amounts of yolk when sliced.

Thinking that “the egg” is a symbol of perfect packaging, is maybe just a failure of imagination. Like the fried-egg bottle, the “long egg” makes us a little less certain about what “egg-shaped” even means.

One graphic design note about the 10-pack cartons (in the top photo with the long egg slicer): I like the way they’ve organized the product illustrations on the box to be almost a diagram of the contents, arranged inside. Also, I like the cubist perspective of the round cross sections showing in the side views.

(A long-egg-related patent, and a long egg worker, after the fold…)





An early elongated-egg patent, filed in 1967

According to Sanovo Technology Group’s website history, the real business of long eggs did not take off until 1974 with their “SANOVO 6-32.”

The SANOVO 6-32 became known as the long egg machine. The machine, which produced egg pieces that were app. 20 cm long with a regular centre of yolk surrounded by egg white of an even thickness, was a sensation at its first exhibition in London in 1974. The concept behind the long egg was simple, but the development of the machine required considerable time and resources.



Photo of a long egg worker, above, from: Museum of Eggs; (another long-egg worker can be read about on DANÆG’s website)

6/10/14 Update:

See our more recent post about Danaeg’s (award-winning) “10 Danish Longegg” carton