​Enterprising egg farmer hatches successful service for shoppers in rural Co Down

As well as running a ‘cluck and collect’ service for locals wishing to enjoy his multi-award-winning eggs, including his famed double yolk ‘Crown Toppers’, Andrew has diversified to offer opportunities for dozens of other artisan producers here.

Andrew recently added another UK Great Taste Award to a host of other endorsements, including Ireland’s Blas na hEireann Awards, for consistently premium quality eggs.

“I started delivery and collection services in the early stage of the pandemic,” he remembers.

“Many people in the community had decided to stay at home and away from the bigger supermarkets.

"I decided then to focus on providing fresh eggs for collection in a makeshift shop at the end of the drive up to the farm,” he adds.

He then extended the farm gate shop for locals worried about the pandemic and it has grown substantially over the past few years.

“It’s been a tremendous success story,” he continues.

“It’s continued to grow in size and products stocked in response to the demand from local people in particular.

Andrew’s shop now offers customers an extensive range of fresh produce sourced from other local farms, including vegetables, fruit, especially strawberries in season, fresh breads, meats, bacon, chilled milk and even pizzas.

They can also buy turf for autumn and winter heat.

“It’s proving a popular development for the farm and is in line with the current trend among shoppers towards locally sourced and fresh products which are now rightly recognised as highly nutritious and with a low carbon footprint,” he says.

Andrew runs the small business, a Food NI member, with wife Rosemary and their two sons.

He also sells his eggs and food markets in the area and supplies several delis and farm shops.

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