The ‘FitChix’ campaign takes the humble egg, a product that hasn’t changed since it was, well, first laid, and innovates it to carry an important message directly from the farm to the supermarket shelf.

With the overwhelming majority of egg brands claiming to be ‘Free Range’, we needed to find a way to prove to consumers how free our chickens are. So, we tracked our chickens and printed their step counts onto our eggs.

The ‘eggs with steps’ are delivered to supermarkets nationwide every week. So now consumers can make an informed decision at point-of-purchase.

A confusing category.

There’s lots of confusion in the egg industry due to the proliferation of terms used to describe farming practices. Barn Laid? Chickens don’t get to go outdoors. Cage Free? Chickens stay indoors with limited space to move. Free Range? Not as free as it sounds. Vague terminology is designed to help shoppers feel better about their choice, while obscuring the reality of the conditions chickens are farmed in.

Free Range isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

Accounting for almost half of egg sales, ‘Free Range’ can mean up to 10,000 chooks* per hectare. This type of farming damages the soil through overuse and restricts the freedom of chickens. Well-intentioned Aussie shoppers were finding eggs hard to judge - and the trade, who perpetuate these definitions, weren’t helping.

*Chook is Aussie for chicken

Regenerative farming means happier chooks.

Honest Eggs Co.’s seven farms have just 30 chickens per hectare and use regenerative farming methods. This type of farming is better for the land and the chooks. When the chickens roam, scratch, and frankly, poo, they’re improving the soil – which means healthier soil and chickens.

Changing the egg industry one step at a time.

Regenerative farming is good for the environment and it creates a great product. But consumers couldn’t separate us from the big egg producers hiding behind misleading labels. So, the idea we came up with was simple, ‘What if we could create a better egg that showed people the conditions chickens were farmed in?

‘Free range’ is the the most popular egg category in Australia, making up 47% of total retail sales. Everyday consumers automatically buy ‘Free Range’ eggs because they believe this to be the ethical choice. What consumers don’t realise, is that the ‘Free Range’ label is used by egg farms with up to 10,000 chickens per hectare.

At Honest Eggs Co. we only have 30 chickens per hectare. Our method of regenerative farming is less wasteful, reduces stress on the land, and is a lot better for the chickens. We just needed more people to start noticing our eggs.

Our key objective was to bring honesty to the egg industry. We set out to accomplish this by building conversation about our point of difference, increasing our customer base and increasing stockists of our product.

As a sustainable player in the egg industry, we needed to educate consumers on how eggs are farmed and the difference their purchase decisions make.

So, we innovated the humble egg to carry an important message directly from the farm to the supermarket shelf.

To do this, we designed ‘FitChix’ - the world’s first step counter custom made for a chicken. Each week the device is put on a small number of chickens to get an average daily step count.

For regulatory traceability, every egg on Australian shelves has a printed farm code. So, to deliver our message we switched this code with the step counts of our chickens during the existing printing process.

Now every time consumers shop for eggs they can see how free our chickens are and make an educated decision at the point-of-purchase.

At Honest Eggs Co. we’re committed to 100% transparency in everything we do. So, it was only natural that this led the strategy for our ‘FitChix’ campaign.

Our target audience was ‘Free Range’ egg buyers. We needed to engage the sensibilities of this audience who’ve been led to believe that ‘Free Range’ eggs are the most ethical choice on the supermarket shelf.

Our strategy was simple, be honest and show consumers how free and healthy the chickens are on our regenerative farms. If we gain the attention of consumers at the point-of-purchase, we can empower them to make informed decisions and change the industry for good.

Our approach would raise awareness on social, drive consideration near premises through selectively placed digital OOH and influence decisions at the point of purchase.

We started by inventing the ‘FitChix’ device. Made from hen-friendly materials it features customised software and GPS tracking. These devices are put on a small group of our chickens each week to track their daily step counts.

We then piggybacked our existing printing process. For regulatory traceability, every egg on Australian shelves has a printed farm code. So, to deliver our message we switched this code with the step counts of our chickens.

On March 9th 2023, the ‘eggs with steps’ were delivered to 350+ stores across Australia and remain a permanent feature on every egg sold by Honest Eggs Co.

To create awareness and drive traffic to stores, we ran an integrated campaign across social, site specific OOH and earned PR.

We also made the device open source so every honest egg farmer around the world can use it.

‘FitChix’ has reframed how people think about eggs . We’ve empowered consumers to make sustainable egg purchases, increased our presence in stores and propelled the business forward.

Within the first two months, we saw a +493% increase in online conversation. And 38 million earned PR reach - connecting with over 148% of the Australian population.

In the first three weeks, purchase orders from existing stockists increased 40%, while sales revenue hit the limit and increased 25%. We also got solid engagement from retailers with +222% new stockist applications.

Furthermore, two of the largest supermarkets in Australia reached out to discuss how Honest Eggs Co. can spearhead their regenerative range. Since then, both supermarkets have announced their commitment to removing cage eggs from their shelves 10 years earlier than planned.

To continue to spread awareness, we’re going to keep doing what we do best. Sell honest eggs from truly free chickens.