Sunny Queen Farms has said sales of its free-range eggs increased by 19 per cent in 2016/17.
The company attributes strong sales to consumers valuing the fact that its chickens are given six times more space than required under national standards.
Last year Sunny Queen committed to ensuring that its free-range eggs were laid on farms with a maximum outdoor density of 1,500 hens per hectare, which is the equivalent minimum outdoor space of a king-size bed for every chicken. The announcement preceded the introduction of a national standard requiring eggs labelled as ‘free range’ to require an outdoor stocking density of 10,000 hens per hectare or less.
Sunny Queen was also one of the first national egg producers to offer access to a live webcam, chooktracker.com.au, which allows consumers to see, in real time, the chickens roaming free on the farm.
“Investing heavily in free range is an important way the farming industry can demonstrate that it genuinely cares about hen welfare, and meet the increasing demand from consumers for free range,” Sunny Queen Australia Managing Director John O’Hara said.
