Shoppers buy caged eggs despite campaigning

Nearly threequarters of eggs sold to Kiwi consumers are from caged hens, and egg producers are calling on supermarkets to continue selling them.

Countdown supermarkets, and Foodstuffs, which owns Pak ‘n Save and New World, and have said the transition to sell only barn or free range eggs in the next 10 years was driven by consumer pressure.

But according to figures from market research company IRI Aztec, more than 70 per cent of the eggs sold at supermarkets in the three months to September 3 were from standard cages. Free range and barn made up a combined 25 per cent.

Cage eggs sales per dozen were up 6.5 per cent from last year, compared to 2.5 per cent for free range, and 14 per cent for barn.

Egg Producers Federation executive director Michael Brooks said cage eggs were more popular than cage free and the transition to cage free would put unrealistic pressure on egg farmers.

Supermarkets made up about 55 per cent of the egg market for farmers, and due to biosecurity restrictions New Zealand can only sell eggs from local farmers.

Sals of a standard box of a dozen cage eggs were up by 550,515 last year, compared to only 60,644 for free range and 82,861 for barn laid.

Foodstuffs would not provide figures on the sales of different eggs by farming system.

In March, Countdown said that 70 per cent of Kiwi shoppers bought cage eggs, while only 30 per cent of the egg sales were from free-range or barn chickens.

But Countdown general manager James Walker said on Monday that stores had seen double digit sales growth for barn and free range.

Some egg farmers have already poured millions of dollars into colony cages after the Ministry for Primary Industries changed the Layer Hens Code of Welfare in 2012.

Farmers were given six years to switch from battery to colony cages, which have more space and perching, nesting and scratching areas.

Brooks said changing a cage farm to free range or barn meant installing a mechanised egg collection belt to take eggs away from the nestings, and having a big enough shed for 3000 to 5000 hens. This often meant farmers had to look for a new location.

Competition would drive down the price of eggs and production would no longer be viable, Brooks said.