Industry
Insights for Industry about trends in economic performance indicators.
With over 150 layer farms, Aotearoa produces around 1 billion eggs every year, selling roughly $286 million worth of eggs. On average, New Zealanders eat nearly 240 eggs per person per year. The Poultry meat industry has 180 farms around the country and all New Zealand’s poultry is raised in barns or free-range.
In 2021 there were over 632,150 pigs (equating to around 44,930 tonnes) killed for local production. Around 66% of production is in the South Island and 34% in the North Island.
The Poultry, Pigs and Other Livestock industry is a relatively small industry in Aotearoa. In 2020, we counted 5,330 people in the Poultry, Pigs and Other Livestock workforce across all industries, with 19% of the workforce identifying as Māori. Export revenue for the industry is small, with most of the pork consumed by New Zealanders coming from overseas. In fact, imported pork comes from over 25 countries and constitutes around 60% of the pork consumed in Aotearoa. This is a challenge for the local industry, especially when the price of imported pork is cheaper, and the local industry is held to higher animal welfare standards than imported pork.
The biggest challenge for the industry currently is changes to government regulations around animal welfare. The Pork industry is awaiting an outcome on the government’s proposed Code of Welfare for Pigs, which would change the rules around use of farrowing crates for sows. A change to the Animal Welfare (Layer Hens) Code of Welfare came into effect on 1 January 2023, which banned layer farms from using conventional cages. This has been compounded by a variety of factors, including the country’s two major supermarket chains announcing they will be phasing out the sale of colony cage eggs, and moving to only selling free-range and barn eggs. Consequently, there is now an egg shortage across the motu.
This section provides information about the workforce, industry and Vocational Education and Training (VET) provision and performance. It shows data and research focused on key aspects of Muka Tangata’s industry groups and learners. This section is expected to feature regular updates to the data and trends being showcased.
We highlight the current key priorities and opportunities for each industry, and links back to the supporting evidence base to show why they have been selected as a priority. These opportunities will be updated on an ongoing basis as our understanding of the industry evolves and deepens.
This is our plan to address the opportunities that arose from our engagement, research and analysis. It includes real actions that we are committed to delivering – these are both industry specific and cross-cutting actions across all industries in the food and fibre sector where common themes emerged.
It includes broader areas or dependencies where external parties will need to provide input into solutions with Muka Tangata support; for example, advocacy, engagement, collaboration, and provision of specific expertise or data. We will work in collaboration with those who will need to take the lead in this area. This section will test potential solutions that we’re working on and seek feedback and input into them.