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Bostock Brothers chicken farm in Hawke’s Bay.
photo: Bostock Brothers
The country’s only organic chicken farm has been sold to industry giant Inghams.
Hawke’s Bay-based Bostock Brothers was looking for funds to expand its business but decided to sell the entire operation to major player Inghams.
The company was founded a decade ago when Ben and George Bostock began raising chickens on their apple orchard.
Ben Bostock said that after a decade of developing the brand and growing the business, they couldn’t keep up with demand.
“Sales were very good, we were short on supply and demand was more than we could handle, but like everything, especially recently, to be sustainable you need scale, so we started looking for capital and chose to pass the baton to someone else.
“It’s really hard to run a small business in New Zealand because of all the rules and regulations, and we’re still very small, with only one million birds, which is less than one percent of the national population.
“But we’re really pleased that Inghams took over the business and not only did they buy the business but they embraced the whole philosophy of organic farming, they also adopted our whole blueprint for designing the farm, giving the chickens large roaming areas and reducing the density of the flock,” he said.
The brothers will remain involved in the business, with Ben growing all the organic corn for feed and George remaining involved in the actual chicken farming.
Now under Inghams’ leadership, the company will be able to grow, he said.
“It’s really exciting to have Inghams in Hawke’s Bay, Bostock Brothers currently employs around 75 people but Inghams plans to double production which means more jobs and it’s also great for the contractors building the new farm.”
Inghams spokeswoman Caroline Hayes said the company was pleased to be involved in organic chicken farming.
“We have been keeping an eye on Bostock for a long time, it is the only organic producer in New Zealand and we have always been interested in the business.”
Hayes said the acquisition of the business meant Inghams had an organic, free-range Waitoa brand and an SPCA-certified livestock farming brand.
“In many ways we are maintaining the same Bostock business as before, so from farming to growing and processing, the business will continue to be based in Hawke’s Bay, the team will remain the same and we are very excited about what the future holds.”
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