EGG produces twin wins

News release
May 23, 2007

EGG produces twin wins

A New Zealand business specialising in designer wear for pregnant women has scored twin wins opening up a potentially huge new export market while at the same time returning much of its manufacturing to New Zealand.

EGG Maternity now exports more products than it sells locally with markets in Australia and The Philippines and the company is about to partner in a new franchise store in Singapore.

Now comes the news that the Auckland-based company has been invited to supply samples to one of the United States’ top maternity wear agents. In just a few months it has orders from 25 new accounts in North America.

EGG has also produced some good news for its New Zealand manufacturers. It has reduced the ratio of garments manufactured offshore from 40 per cent of its production to only 20 per cent.

The six year-old company had initially tried to manufacture all its garments in New Zealand but technical issues had forced it offshore.

“Over time we began to encounter some problems with our offshore suppliers with a few shipments we weren’t happy with,” says EGG co-owner Colyn Devereux-Kay. “We found it difficult and often costly dealing with those issues from a distance.

“So we started talking to our local suppliers about quality and price and by compromising a little of our margin we have been able to localise the manufacturing for a number of our lines.”

Ms Devereux-Kay says there have been major benefits for the business.

“We have reduced turnaround time and because we can more often chat person-to-person with our suppliers we greater quality control. The result has been very satisfactory.”

EGG products manufactured offshore now comprise only garments that are technically too difficult for local suppliers to make.

The company’s foray into the lucrative US market follows several years of consolidation Ms Devereux-Kay says.

“We had an approach from our US agent about two years ago but felt we needed to be properly prepared in terms of manufacturing capacity and some of the federal requirements we had to meet.”

EGG contacted the agent again in early 2007 and got an immediate yes when asked if he was still interested.

Now EGG has a small sample range in the agent’s New York and Los Angeles showrooms. Samples from the company’s full new season range will be shipped to the US in June or July.

“We’ve had great support from Trade & Enterprise and we’re planning a major launch in New York for later in the year that we hope they’ll support us on,” Ms Devereux-Kay says.

With the EGG agent servicing some 600 accounts in the US comprising some of the globe’s top maternity brands the company is in the right hands Ms Devereux-Kay says.

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