FRENZ and Countdown announce transition to 100% cage-free

MEDIA ALERT 28 March 2017

FRENZ and Countdown announce transition to 100% cage-free

FRENZ, New Zealand’s free-range pioneers, welcome Countdown’s announcement to sell exclusively cage-free eggs by 2025, a move that could transform the chicken farming industry in NZ.

Rob Darby, FRENZ Director, says Countdown’s transition to free-range and barn means the family owned FRENZ brand will be supplying an ever-increasing amount of free-range eggs to the NZ consumer.

“We’ve been supplying to Countdown for over 30 years now, and we’re pleased to support their target of exclusively cage-free eggs,” says Darby. “The demand from retailers and consumers for high quality, free-range eggs is very real and we’re hoping this transition is the catalyst for other farmers to change their ways and move to cage-free as well.”

FRENZ have 15% of all egg farms in NZ but only supply around two per cent of the nation’s eggs. The Countdown announcement means FRENZ has a 30% annual growth target to ensure they keep up with the demand of Countdown and other supermarkets.

Countdown merchandise manager, Nikhil Sawant, says the two brands have worked together on this for some time and are both now in a position to commit to providing 100% cage-free eggs to the Countdown customer by the end of 2024 in the North Island, and 2025 in the South Island.

“We’re very pleased we could make this change for our customers. Countdown has been working hard with our egg suppliers, including FRENZ, for the past two years to increase the supply of free-range and barn eggs in New Zealand. We’ll continue working collaboratively with farmers to meet the 2024 and 2025 target dates, focusing on making the transition as smooth as possible for farmers and the hens they look after,” he says.

While Countdown’s transition is the first nation-wide announcement, several independent retailers already exclusively stock cage-free eggs, including New World Remuera and Farro Fresh.

The FRENZ Certified Free Range Standards exceed the current NZ standard and are formed on the natural behaviours of birds, including three critical necessities:

1) Hens having access to the outdoors 24/7

2) Maximum 500 birds per acre

3) Maximum 2000 birds per flock

“We maintain small flocks of 350 birds per acre for organic free-range eggs and a maximum of 500 birds per acre for free-range. The cost of land, feed and flock maintenance mean our free-range eggs are more expensive to produce than cage-eggs; while some people are willing to pay that little bit extra for peace of mind when purchasing free-range and giving birds their freedom, we’re working with Countdown to ensure eggs are affordable for New Zealanders,” Darby says.

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About FRENZ:

frenzeggs.co.nz

Early in the 1980’s, mates Graeme Carrie and Rob Darby realised Kiwis wanted a wholesome, humane alternative to caged, battery eggs. Starting from humble beginnings it didn’t take long for the demand of their superior tasting eggs to grow and so, in 1989 they formed the New Zealand Free Range Egg Company (FRENZ), setting world-leading free-range standards in the process.

All FRENZ eggs are genuine free-range. FRENZ also produce certified organic eggs (where the hens' feed is 100% organic). These are regularly, independently certified by BioGro and inspected by the Ministry of Primary Industries, to the highest export standards.

What's even more important is what's not in our eggs: antibiotics, hormones, and pesticides.

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