Hawkes Bay Today
  • Hawke's Bay Today home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology

Locations

  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Havelock North
  • Central Hawke's Bay
  • Tararua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Dannevirke
  • Gisborne

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Hawkes Bay Today

Linda Hall: Free-range's free reign

By Linda Hall
Hawkes Bay Today·
20 Mar, 2017 01:00 AM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

There must be thousands of consumers out there feeling like they have been left with egg on their face - including me.

When the story broke early last week about caged eggs being sold as free-range I crossed my fingers and hoped it wasn't the brand I bought.

I have two boiled eggs for breakfast most mornings.

Then I heard it was Palace Poultry and I felt much relieved. But a few hours later I heard a couple of reporters discussing it in the newsroom and they mentioned the brand I bought.

Don't tell me that is true, I asked. Yes, they replied, according to a list they had found online.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

I was upset and then confused when I went into Countdown and New World in Hastings and found both were still selling the brand and it had been reported that the imposter eggs had been taken off Countdown shelves.

So I relaxed a bit. I was quite sure that with the spotlight on them if there was any question about the authenticity of the brand they would have been taken from the shelves immediately.

However, that doesn't alter the fact that thousands of people have been duped into buying caged eggs.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

A text sent to the paper laughed at buyers of free range eggs saying something along the lines of "so free-range egg buyers obviously can't tell the difference in taste between caged eggs and free-range."

They miss the point, for me anyway, of buying free range. It's not about the taste, it's about the welfare of the hen that laid it.

Although anyone who has eaten a fresh free-range egg will know just how wonderful they taste.

We've all seen the pictures of hens packed into cages, never seeing the light of day.

Discover more

Opinion

Linda Hall: Big cracks appear in bargain-pottery market

09 Apr 10:00 PM

That's why I buy free-range and because now there are only two people in the house I can afford to.

I certainly couldn't do that when my children were young and I hadn't seen the pictures then but I totally understand why people buy caged eggs.

So, now Palace Poultry are saying they bought the eggs from a wholesaler believing they were free-range. The wholesaler is denying that saying the eggs were sold as caged. Both are calling the other liars.

I'll leave you to make your own conclusion.

What we do know is that someone has made a lot of money by deceit. When the investigation finds out who, then they need to be hit in the pocket.

After all that's what it's all about - money.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Perhaps part of the punishment could be buying a heap of chickens and chicken coops and giving them to families.

Of course this isn't the first time this has happened and probably won't be the last.

According to Consumer a Northland egg farmer sold caged eggs as free-range or barn laid for more than 19 months before he was caught.

After a guilty plea he was sentenced to 12 months' home detention and 200 hours' community service.

It's disappointing that people who made a choice to buy a product that ensures there are hens living a better life than some have actually paid for a human to live a better life than most.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Hawkes Bay Today

Hawkes Bay Today

Villa Maria adds cancer warnings to wines sold in Ireland

Hawkes Bay Today

Family ties as Joe Helmore art features in HB auction

Premium
Opinion

Elastic is anything but trivial: Wyn Drabble


Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Hawkes Bay Today

Villa Maria adds cancer warnings to wines sold in Ireland
Hawkes Bay Today

Villa Maria adds cancer warnings to wines sold in Ireland

Labels state there’s a direct link between alcohol and fatal cancers.

17 Jul 07:05 PM
Family ties as Joe Helmore art features in HB auction
Hawkes Bay Today

Family ties as Joe Helmore art features in HB auction

17 Jul 06:00 PM
Premium
Premium
Elastic is anything but trivial: Wyn Drabble
Opinion

Elastic is anything but trivial: Wyn Drabble

17 Jul 06:00 PM


Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

06 Jul 09:47 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Hawke's Bay Today e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Hawke's Bay Today
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • NZME Events
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP