Source: Radio New Zealand
Bennik’s Eggs is also home to a hatchery. Supplied
More than 30 years after moving away from caged egg farming, the Bennik family is proud of the legacy it has paved over three generations.
From one of the country’s first commercial poultry farms started by parents Harry Sr and Wilhelmina in the 1950s, brothers Harry Jr and Nick Bennik – along with their siblings Paul and Janie, and wider family – had grown the business into a diverse operation over multiple sites and with multi-income streams.
“I believe that we’re doing some very, very good things here, and actually we have been leading the industry in certain areas,” eldest brother Harry told Country Life. “We’re not afraid of new initiatives.”
Bennik’s Eggs had grown from a farm in Horowhenua into the NZ Egg Group – with 135,000 chickens in Levin still owned by the family to supply locals and its liquid egg plant, and another 75,000 birds supplied by contractors around Auckland for its export packhouse.
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An automated chute system means by the time you pick up a carton of eggs, you are the first person to touch them. Gianina Schwanecke / Country Life
Since the early 1990s Bennik’s had been running free-range and barn-range chooks, well ahead of the country phasing out caged-egg farming in 2023. It was also the first egg farm to become SPCA Animal Welfare Accredited.
“At that time, a lot of poultry farms in New Zealand were looking at modernising their operations that were getting a bit dated and they felt that investment was needed for the future,” Harry explained.
“Considering trends that were happening overseas, I thought, well, rather than invest a lot of money into intense battery farming, which had an unknown future, why not go into cage-free farming.”
Rhonda and Harry Bennik outside their farm shop off State Highway 1 near Levin. Gianina Schwanecke / Country Life
Bennik’s Eggs has been helping lead the industry for over 70 years across three generations. Gianina Schwanecke / Country Life
He told Country Life they were proud to have “pioneered modern cage-free farming in New Zealand”. It had its challenges though, including breeding and developing good nesting traits in the commercial flock of hens.
One of the bigger challenges was convincing local retailers and supermarkets that they could sell the eggs for a premium price.
Nick said consumers were now much more accepting of free-range and cage-free production as an “alternative to a cheaper colony product”. It had helped as the business had grown into producing a range of liquid eggs.
“We’re starting to see now that food manufacturers are also starting to promote the fact that they’re using free-range or cage-free products in the manufacture of their own food items.
“We think eggs are a phenomenal protein source, a phenomenal food ingredient and there’s more to the humble egg than being contained in a shell for the future of our company anyway.
“So we see a solid future going forward around being able to provide those raw ingredients to those manufacturers in the cage-free and free-range format.”
Three generations of Benniks: Form left, Nick Bennik, alongside niece Courtney and brother Harry Bennik. Gianina Schwanecke / Country Life
Developing the liquid egg factory had not only helped the family diversify its income stream, it also helped stabilise prices for the wider industry, according to Harry.
He explained there were times when overproduction could lead to a bit of a surplus. Now rather than sell the eggs below the cost of production, the family could freeze the product and allow it to keep for longer.
“New Zealand is an exceedingly small country when you look at a global scale. With 5 million people, there’s only so many eggs consumed in any given year. The industry on a national level caters for that demand more than satisfactorily.”
Harry said for the company to grow without flooding what was a “very small market” and lowering egg prices, it had needed to look outside the box.
It had also provided work opportunities for those in the family, like Harry’s daughter Courtney.
She told Country Life it was special to work with family.
“[It’s] really sentimental to me, especially my grandfather coming over from Holland all those years ago and starting a chicken farm here and now it’s grown to this,” she said.
At the liquid egg factory, they can break 10,000 eggs an hour. Gianina Schwanecke / Country Life
The eggs can be sorted and separated into egg whites and yolks. Gianina Schwanecke / Country Life
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
