NZ cage free eggs break into Asia

Henergy Cage Free eggs Brent Mackenzie Plant Manager, right, with Graeme Napier, company founder. File photo / supplied

The country's largest cage-free egg producer is breaking into Singapore and Hong Kong markets and expects to have eggs in supermarkets by the New Year.

Masterton-based Henergy is expecting to sell 2000 dozen a week to the two new markets after the paperwork is signed between NZ Food Safety and Asian food authorities.

Chief executive Darren Perry said it was a huge step in their overseas expansion and there was huge demand for cage-free eggs in Asia.

The company was opening up new markets while massively increasing its capacity at its Masterton farm - it doubled its hens from 48,000 to 85,000 in the past year.

Perry said the company was pouncing before an anticipated legislative change banned battery-cage farming of chickens.

Europe was banning battery-farms by 2012 and New Zealand was expected to follow suit.

The company had spent more than $5 million on three 12,000-strong new barns in the last year and is planning another three, bringing their total capacity to 188,000 chickens.

Perry said the company was on track to have an annual turnover of $10 million and they still saw huge growth in the domestic market, which only produces 20 per cent of its eggs from cage-free farming.