Phil Twizell owner of The Good Egg Fellas “shell-shocked” at demand for cracking quality eggs!
When it comes to delivering a high-quality product safely to customers, you’d be forgiven for thinking it would be an impossible task in the case of fresh eggs.
But that’s exactly what Phil Twizell, of The Good Egg Fellas, based in Darlington, promises his customers, who include discerning cafes, restaurants and bakeries throughout the UK.
What’s more, with the help of carefully selected couriers, Phil’s fresh eggs can now be delivered to your door, as he has expanded into the domestic market and believes his hens are providing his customers with (probably) the best eggs in the UK!
“With our eggs, you get the ultimate in freshness, as we get them out on the day of lay,” he says.
“The only way you can get them any fresher is to have your own hens.
“When we started out, we sold the eggs on the general wholesale market, which is quite volatile, but we have always sold a few privately to local customers – and that side of the business has grown organically.”
Phil previously kept pigs, but in 2009, he decided to devote life on his farm to hens and “run down the hog end”.
“At the time, I didn’t know anything about hens,” admits Phil, who now prides himself on the exceptional quality on his RSPCA-assured farm.
His 16,000 hens have an impressive range to roam in, including the shelter of 4,000 specially planted bee friendly trees and a winter garden, which enables the hens to shelter when outside.
When he started out, Phil never imagined he would be sending eggs to customers throughout the UK.
But with the help of some clever marketing from the team at North Yorkshire based Clickthrough digital Ltd, the demand for Good Egg Fella eggs delivered direct to the door is growing and growing.
“Our new website and the work Stephen Prince at Clickthrough has done has helped to take the household sales to the next level,” says Phil.
“About 50% of the eggs go to London, where they like the quality and freshness of the eggs.”
The farm produces 105,000 eggs every week, but every 15 months, the flock is changed – and it takes six weeks before the new hens start producing.
During that period, Phil buys eggs from other farmers for his regular customers – but has to warn them they are not receiving their usual product.
“We never seem to be able to buy in the same quality of eggs we produce,” Phil claims.
“It just reinforces the fact they are getting a better quality product when they buy from us.”
Many of his regular customers buy on subscription to ensure priority delivery.
The team work hard to ensure the hens are protected from respiratory diseases, with a vaccine programme in place and strict biosecurity protocols protecting against avian influenza.
“We spend a lot of time looking after our hens and pride ourselves on how well cared for they are,” he says.
In fact, you could say Phil’s hens live the life of CLUXURY – and the results are EGGCELLENT!