A recent online Colmar Brunton poll asked nearly 1000 people how confident they were boiling, scrambling, poaching eggs and making an omelette, reports Scoop.

The poll, commissioned by Farmer Brown, found that while New Zealanders [Kiwis] enjoy having a crack at cooking eggs, many young people lack the confidence or had never tried simple egg cookery techniques.

Boiling an egg is considered the most basic method of cooking an egg. Yet, one in 12 people under the age of 30 reported they had never attempted or lacked the confidence to pop an egg into a pot of water and boil it to their liking.

Farmer Brown marketing manager, Bernadette de Bono, says this research comes as no surprise. "These latest results back up other surveys we have done that show people are unsure about basic egg cookery. Every New Zealander should know how to do something as basic as boil an egg. It’s a basic life skill that opens up access to quick, healthy and delicious meals.

"If we can build people’s confidence with basic egg cookery techniques, they’ll be more inclined to try more adventurous egg dishes," she says.

Armed with these latest results, Farmer Brown is on a mission to get NZ cooking with eggs. The company is launching a campaign called 'Give It A Crack' and is including a clever egg-timer device in special promotional packs of its eggs.

Cooking perfectly boiled eggs to your liking has never been so easy with the addition of this quirky egg-shaped timer to the pot. It is clever enough to automatically sense the number of eggs and amount of water and changes colour to indicate when an egg is soft, medium or hard boiled. "We want to teach every New Zealander, no matter how old they are, how to boil an egg just the way they like it," says Ms de Bono. "The Farmer Brown Eggtimer is the perfect tool for parents to teach their children how to boil an egg."

Young Kiwis struggled with techniques apart from boiling an egg. The research also found at least one in 10 people aged under 30 had never tried to poach an egg or make an omelette. Conversely, the majority of those over 50 were confident at poaching eggs (90%) and making omelettes (78%).

Not surprisingly, more advanced techniques like scrambling an egg was beyond young people, with 15% of those aged under 30 never trying or lacking the confidence to turn eggs into soft clouds of creamy scrambles. This was compared to 9% of people overall who reported never trying or lacking the confidence to make scrambled eggs.

Farmer Brown’s research also found consumers’ demand for wholesome, natural foods is on the rise. "We’ve found there has been a swing from heavily processed foods back to simple basic food that’s quick and easy to prepare," said Ms de Bono. "Eggs fall into this category as they are a highly nutritious food that can be turned into healthy, cost-effective meals relatively easily," she says.

Despite the fact young New Zealanders are not cooking eggs, New Zealanders are among some of the biggest consumers of eggs in the world. Latest figures from the Egg Producers Federation of New Zealand show per capita we consume 218 eggs. Other big egg eaters are Czech Republic, China, Denmark, France and Mexico.

Egg lovers should look out for limited edition promotional packs of Farmer Brown Eggs, from 11 August. These promotional packs contain 17 size 6 eggs and one Farmer Brown Eggtimer and will be on sale whilst stocks last, reports Scoop.