The egg is a star product that has always accompanied us in our diet over the years. There is increasing concern about the care of the raw material from its base, from where they are born, and also, keep in mind how the products are cared for during their ripening time. Especially, we care that the animals that produce these products are cared for in the natural environment so that the product is as natural as possible and its nutritional values are not altered.
The egg is one of the protagonists of these advances, especially since the raising of chickens in natural spaces has been supported, fed by-products of the land, or by a feed from organic farming. The most worrying aspects are that the hens are not manipulated to give a higher production, as well as that the final product goes on sale (after passing health controls) without any chemical product having intervened in the process. This is summed up in letting the life of the hens and their egg-laying take its course naturally and thus the new era of free-range eggs is born.
For World Egg Day, we spoke with one of the most famous farms for raising hens that produce free-range eggs, Pazo de Vilane, a family project developed in rural Galicia.
Free-range eggs full of values
Sustainable work and production processes with an artisanal character, respect for the natural environment and the environment, and especially care for life and the welfare of animals are the fundamental values to guarantee success in the production of free-range eggs.
We are a family business, we took our first steps twenty years ago by selling door to door around the farm the eggs that were laid by our 50 Free-range chickens. Little by little, we grew, selling further and further away from the Pazo and learning what we had to do. Today, after much effort, we can affirm that we are very proud of what we have achieved.
We have more than 100,000 chickens, we distribute our free-range eggs throughout Spain and our annual turnover is close to five million euros. ”
These free-range eggs can be found in the most famous supermarkets in Spain, already among the best sellers and the most demanded by the most demanding foodies, especially for their affordable price (1.14 euros for half a dozen), compared to other eggs Camperos from the market and for its authentic flavor.
The environment, the key to success
For the eggs to come out with the guarantee of excellence and the free-range designation, their producers must take extreme care of the environment and especially the land in which the hens live, which of course must be loose in the open field. Owning land where the land has not been manipulated so that it loses its nutritional value as a source of food for the animal is key to achieving a quality product.
Free-range eggs VS Standard eggs
For many consumers, distinguishing in flavor or shape whether a free-range egg or not can be difficult. For this reason, we give you some basic keys so that they do not give us a ‘hoax’. The main differential characteristic is that standard eggs can come wrapped in plastic, in cardboard boxes, and almost always, in a dark grayish tone. In the case of campers, the wrapping is also part of the natural process. They are usually packages with the color of the field, brown, green, or orange. And in most cases, they are recycled.