Fresh egg producers get cracking with mayonnaise

by newswales.co.uk - 05/10/2011

"A couple who run a multi-award winning Welsh free range egg company have come up with a cracking idea to complement their product range – whole egg mayonnaise."

Tony and Gwen Burgess, of Birchgrove Eggs, Trawsgoed, near Aberystwyth, have launched Birchgrove Real Mayonnaise for the catering and wholesale sectors and are delighted with the enthusiastic response from customers.

One happy customer, popular Welsh chef Gareth Johns, co-owner of the Wynnstay Hotel,Machynlleth, sings the praises of the new product, describing it as the best pre-made mayonnaise he has tasted.

“It’s a good tasting free range Welsh mayonnaise that’s ideal for mixing or dipping on its own,” he said. “I have used Tony’s eggs for many years because they tick all my sustainability boxes: they are free range, full of flavour and produced locally.”

Tony and Gwen, who have won a string of awards, including Wales the True Taste Food and Drink Awards and Poultry Farmer of the Year, have been poultry farmers for more than 30 years and are constantly striving to improve the business. Their eggs arefully accredited to the RSPCA Freedom Food Scheme, which ensures the highest standards of both welfare and production methods are maintained.

Birchgrove Eggs is receiving marketing advice from the Wales the True Taste Mentoring programme supported by the Welsh Government and delivered by Mentor aBusnes. The programme is designed to help Welsh speciality food and drink businesses develop the UK market.

Tony explained that some basic market research had encouraged the business to venture into mayonnaise.

“I asked our catering customers where their mayonnaise was produced and whether theywould be interested in using a mayonnaise made from Birchgrove free range eggs, “he explained. “The overwhelming response was ‘yes’.“The mayonnaise suits many of our customers who positively promote Welsh food in their menus and recipes.

'The process of producing a mayonnaise that suits everyonehas been quite a journey.“It has taken the best part of a year to complete before everyone appeared happywith the product and, importantly, the price but now we have a mayonnaise that can take on the world!

'The initial take up and orders have been extremely favourable and I believe we have already sold in excess of a tonne of mayonnaise. I never realised how versatile mayonnaise can be

.“It appears to feature in many fish recipes along with basics such as coleslaw and dips but my favourite has to be egg mayonnaise made with our eggs of course. The best aspect of it is that it further reduces our carbon footprint."

The initial mayonnaise idea was prompted by a project undertaken by Bangor University last year to calculate the farm’s carbon footprint. The findings were extremely positive, however Tony and Gwen were not fully happy as they wanted their farm to be carbon neutral or negative.

They quickly identified improvements in their business, which could impact favourably on their footprint, from extra tree planting, changes to their transport logistics, improved energy use, communication with all suppliers and supply chain efficiency.

They have planted a new orchard in the hens’ pasture, so apples, pears and eggs will be produced on the same acreage.

“This process is called symbiosis, where productionof one product can help the production of another, as the hens fertilise the land very efficiently for fruit trees,” explained Tony.“Having the farm’s footprint measured has shown us just what we can do to reduce our carbon use whilst in some way reinvigorating our business ideas, a great win win situation for everyone concerned.”

Photograph shows Gwen Burgess with chef Gareth Johns and the new Birchgrove Real Mayonnaise.

More Details: http://www.newswales.co.uk/?section=Business&F=1&id=22693