If you want to sell eggs, have a crack at selling cars, is the advice from free range egg farmer Scott Jimmieson.
He spent several years in the vehicle trade as a way of upskilling for his first farming venture.
In 2016, wanting to be his own boss after returning from overseas, Jimmieson decided to buy 500 laying hens and farm them on his parents land near Halcombe in Manawatū.
Scott and Emma Jimmieson in front of the chicken barn in Halcombe Photo: RNZ/Sally Round
He was milking cows at the same time but decided, in order to scale up the egg business, he needed some extra knowledge.
The car sales job in Feilding was tough going alongside building his farm but meant a fast-track to understanding his future customers.
"I think a lot of my mates thought I was crazy and a bit weird at the time."
But there was method to the madness.
The Jimmiesons' automated chicken shed on a former deer farm in Manawatū. Photo: RNZ/Sally Round
"When I was dairy farming, I wasn't getting any exposure to any of the actual core business stuff, just cupping cows."
But negotiating car sales and setting up financing deals changed all that.
"I learned a lot of the power in people. People really want to deal with people that they know and they trust."
His egg business, which started out in a former deer shed, has grown to 40,000 laying hens, 5000 of them housed in a purpose-built fully automated shed with access to outdoor pasture on the family land.
Emma harvesting eggs from the conveyor belt Photo: RNZ/Sally Round
Scott recently wed radiographer Emma Poole and together they want to help people understand where their food comes from under the couple's Local Food NZ brand, set up in 2019 and kickstarted by the pandemic.
They were run off their feet when people were stuck at home and habits changed.
The eggs are sold via an online farm shop which offers other locally sourced produce, including asparagus, honey and olive oil, all delivered direct to customers as far south as Wellington.
Craig Jimmieson at the helm of the egg delivery van Photo: RNZ/Sally Round
Scott's father Craig enjoys having a yarn to some of them as he drops the produce off on his delivery round.
"It's amazing ... all sorts of people get the eggs and you can go through the flash areas and the not so flash areas," he told Country Life on a hot afternoon in the delivery van.
"You have the odd whoopsie, you know, like if you brake suddenly or someone pulls out in front of you.
"You've got to be very careful how they're stacked in the back. There was one day, there was a sea of eggs in the back and I had to go to the supermarket and buy copious amounts of paper towels and what-not.
"I was not a happy chappie."
Craig delivers the eggs to the door and enjoys having a yarn with his customers Photo: RNZ/Sally Round
Scott said his parents' support had been invaluable from the beginning.
"My father actually took a lot of the brunt of the day-to-day operations. And a lot of that time we were unviable. I knew it was working, we just had to scale it.
"Mum and Dad still to this day, they help out a lot and without them, we really wouldn't have been able to achieve what we have to this point."
Emma, who is not a bird-lover, prefers to harvest the eggs and look after the brand.
"People have lost that connection with the farmers that produce their food, like how much effort goes into it, and how they're really striving to produce a really good product."
The laying hens enjoy a free- range lifestyle Photo: RNZ/Sally Round
