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Home» Farming Types » Barn » Media information – Key facts and useful background on NZ egg farming

Media information – Key facts and useful background on NZ egg farming

Posted March 16, 2016

What is?

  • Free-range egg production – Birds have access to the range all day; maximum flock density is 2,500 birds per hectare (inside area density is 1111 square cm per bird); birds have perches, nest boxes and scratching areas
  • Barn production – Birds do not have access to range; inside density of 1428 square cms per bird; birds have perches, nesting boxes and scratching areas
  • Colony cage environment – Birds do not have access to range – up to 60 birds per enclosure – area of 750 square cm per bird; birds have perches, nest boxes and scratching areas
  • Conventional cage (being phased out by 31 December 2022) – Birds do not have access to range; 2-5 birds per cage – area of 550 square cms per bird.

Consumption:

  • Egg consumption in NZ is currently 237 eggs per person per year (as at June 2021)
  • This is one of the highest consumption rates in the world
  • The small difference is export and processed product
  • Chicken meat has been NZ’s number one source of meat protein since 2001 – 43kgs/person (as at June 2021).

Egg Prices:

  • Conventional cage eggs (being phased out) – $3.61/dozen*
  • Colony eggs (being phased in) – $4.05/dozen
  • Barn-raised – $6.43/dozen
  • Free-range – $7.34/dozen
  • Free-range is therefore 50% more expensive than cage eggs and 45% more expensive than colony eggs.

Egg Supermarket sales:

  • Supermarkets account for 50% of sales and are the only sales that are broken down
  • The rest of sales are: commercial baking and small retail and are mainly Conventional cage egg consumers
  • Percent of supermarket sales:
    • Conventional cage/Colony 66% (no outdoor access)
    • Free-range 27% (outdoor access)
    • Barn 5% (no outdoor access)
    • Other 2% – 1 % mostly chilled egg white and 1% organic
  • Volume growth in supermarkets in the last year:
    • Conventional cage/Colony 63%
    • Free-range 37%
    • Conventional cage/Colony is growing at nearly double the rate of free-range.

Egg Consumers

  • High-volume consumers are Māori, Pacific and Asian
  • Data in this area is limited but here is some related information:
    • 70% of these ethnic groups purchase two or more dozen eggs a month
    • Of those, 39% purchase more than four dozen a month
  • 54% of these ethnic groups purchase eggs in trays of 30. Purchase of trays is considered an indicator of price sensitivity.

Exports/Imports

  • Egg and meat exports are increasing to Pacific Islands, New Caledonia and PNG (eggs); Pacific Islands, Melanesia, UAE, Japan and Australia (cooked, fresh, frozen meat)
  • These markets are price-conscious and are apparently all Conventional cage eggs and Barn-raised meat, at this point
  • Singapore is an emerging market which apparently will not import free-range products due to biosecurity concerns – Salmonella and avian influenza
  • Pressure is coming on export and local sales of egg ingredients from Australia where Conventional cage egg production continues
  • NZ’s freedom from disease is a major factor in a growing export trade for eggs and meat.

International Trends

  • Switzerland has been Free-range for some decades
  • Germany has gone Free-range more recently and has gone from an egg powerhouse exporter to an importer from EU countries that haven’t gone Free-range
  • Much of Europe is a combination of Barn and Colony production
  • Colony is big in the UK (possibly around 50%)
  • Canada is moving from Conventional cage to Colonies like New Zealand by 2036
  • North America, South America, Central America, Australia, Africa, Asia and Russia remain largely Conventional Cage-based.

Biosecurity

  • Is emerging as a major concern internationally with the advent of virulent strains of Avian Influenza – the avian equivalent of Foot and Mouth Disease
  • NZ is free of Avian Influenza and Newcastle Disease – two of  the three major poultry diseases that afflict poultry flocks worldwide.
  • An outbreak of Infectious Disease (IBD) on two North Otago farms in 2019 has been completely contained. A fully industry-funded national blood sampling regime has found no IBD  on any other farm in New Zealand.
  • Neither eggs nor chicken meat can be imported into NZ for biosecurity reasons
  • A higher price differential between eggs/meat in NZ compared to say Australia could result in pressure to change this arrangement
  • Free-range most susceptible to influenza because of exposure to other avian species on the range
  • In Australia in 2014 a flock of 300,000 caged birds (5% of Australian layer hens) was slaughtered because of concerns about Avian Influenza infection from nearby Free-range birds. This led to an egg shortage on the Australian market and NZ picked up the PNG market as a result.

 

* Sources:

  • AC Nielsen supermarket data
  • MPI reports

 

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