A FREE range egg producer from North Yorkshire has won a national marketing award.

Chippindale Foods, from near Harrogate, was recognised for its partnership with the Bumblebee Conservation Trust.

The companies Bee Friendly free range egg campaign scooped the Marketing Initiative of the Year award at last week’s BFREPA conference for the British free range egg industry.

It is the only food production company to partner the Trust and has created 16 acres of bee friendly habitat across nine free range poultry farms.

Between them the farms within the scheme now produce enough eggs to supply the entire Chippindale "Yorkshire" egg brand, which is sold in regional Morrisons and Co-op stores.

As well as increasing habitats and raising awareness of the bumblebee’s plight, the collaboration has led to the development of a training programme for farmers and their families to help them monitor types and numbers of bees on their land.

Nick Chippindale, managing director, said the marketing campaign has involved new shelf packaging, in-pack information to help consumers identify bees in the wild, and a competition to coincide with the company’s involvement in the Great Yorkshire Show.

He said: "The success of the campaign has been helped by the enthusiasm of the farmers we work with who have really got behind the initiative and supported our efforts to create a network of bee friendly farms that produce eggs for us."

Chippindale Foods dates back to 1930 when Leonard Chippindale introduced poultry to the family farm in Harrogate. In 2013 the company invested in a new £5m purpose-built 55,000sq ft low carbon egg packing facility on the outskirts of Harrogate which can handle over six million eggs a week.

Nick Chippindale said: "We are delighted that the scheme’s success has been recognised by the British free range egg industry with this national award.

"We are always on the lookout for new and existing free range egg producers to join us and we are currently recruiting to support the continued growth of our business, including our Bee Friendly range."