Award-winning Glenballyeamon Eggs are among the freshest in the land. We travelled to Cushendall in the Glens of Antrim and met founder / proprietor Niall Delargy to find out more about this egg-ceptional enterprise, which secured a prestigious Great Taste Award in 2016.
Described as the Oscars of the food world, the Great Taste Awards are acknowledged as the benchmark for the finest food and drink. It was wholly appropriate, therefore, that the year gone by saw outstanding Glens of Antrim egg producer Glenballyeamon Eggs recognised for the quality of their fresh and delicious produce, which has been going down a treat with the populace of County Antrim and beyond for nigh on two decades.
Simply put, these are some of the freshest eggs in the land. Glenballyeamon Eggs are set amongst the green fields and rolling hills of the famous Glens of Antrim, where their hens are happy and thus produce tasty, high-quality eggs.
This area is steeped in heritage and history, the glen itself stretching down from Trostan mountain between the slopes of Tievebulliagh and Lurigethan, flowing into Red Bay along the Causeway coastal route. Cushendall is located at the mouth of the glen.
Situated here in the scenic townland of Altmore, Glenballyeamon Eggs’ free range hens produce healthy eggs, which in turn can have obvious health benefits to consumers. Eggs are, of course, one of the only foods that contain naturally-occurring Vitamin D. Each egg also has six grams of high-quality protein and all nine essential amino acids. Not to mention the taste!
Serving both the retail and catering sectors, Glenballyeamon Eggs deliver their produce province-wide, with 95% of their eggs going to local businesses, including restaurants, shops, cafes, bakeries and hotels.
Owner Niall Delargy started off with a mere dozen hens in 1998; today, he has 17,000, laying enough free-range eggs to keep the good people of the Glens of Antrim and beyond very happy. Every egg is rigorously checked and packed using modern machinery and inkjet coding equipment to ensure the ultimate in traceability and quality, with personal service and attention to detail a given.
In addition to receiving a coveted Great Taste Award in 2016, the eggs are also SALSA-approved, Foods Standards Agency-approved and Freedom Food-approved, while Glenballyeamon Eggs is a Lion-approved egg farm. A variety of other local awards and distinctions have been garnered over the years and decades.
The award-winning, fully-certified eggs come in all sizes but, inside, they all have that delightful bright orange yolk that shows they are 100% free-range and 100% fresh.
Niall’s successful venture into the world of free-range eggs had unlikely origins: he was a welder by trade, who kept a few sheep on the hills before setting out with just twelve hens some 19 years ago. “I expanded gradually in the first five years and then in the mid-2000s expanded in a bit more style,” he reflects. “We have three poultry houses now and produce 1,300 dozen eggs per day (calculators out!), predominantly free range but we do some farm fresh eggs as well.
“The secret to great eggs lies in great animal welfare, according to the affable Antrim man: “It comes down to a combination of good animal welfare practices – good feed, good water and generally speaking, good husbandry. You have to keep on top of things. I’m here myself, hands-on, every day, seven days per week. We buy in our pullets at 16 weeks and handle everything in-house, including packing and distribution.
“In the two decades of Glenballyeamon Eggs’ existence, egg production techniques in Ireland have changed considerably. “Everything was done by hand when I started out,” Niall notes. “It has progressed to the stage where most things are done automatically now, although a great deal of personal input is still required.
“Excellent eggs have resulted in strong customer loyalty, which has been one of the key drivers of the growth of the business. “We sell to catering, retail and wholesale. The majority of our eggs are sold along the North Antrim coast and in surrounding towns and villages into local shops, hotels, restaurants and cafes. We deal with the same customers week in. week out and we’re always picking up some new ones along the way as well.”
An insistence on quality has been a constant at Glenballyeamon Eggs since its inception. Quality produce and quality service are guaranteed, but this is pointless if the business isn’t being managed as a viable commercial enterprise. “You have to manage it to make sure you are making money. If you don’t do things right, then it’s not going to work,” Niall adds.
“There are a lot of things in poultry that you have to keep an eye on. To this end, management of the birds from when we get them until they leave is paramount. As well as looking after the birds, you also have to look after your customers.
“Every customer is equally important to me, regardless of how many eggs they take – from five dozen eggs per week to 30 cases [each containing 30 dozen], it’s all the same to me.”
Looking to the future, Niall is not about to rest on his laurels. To the contrary, he hopes to increase output and expand his market base to take in more of the province: “I have secured planning permission for a new state-of-the-art, automated packing centre and I’m also hoping to expand by taking on producer farmers to increase output,” he confirms.
Glenballyeamon Eggs has been a resounding success story to date, justifying Niall Delargy’s decision to opt for a life in poultry and to back himself with continuous investment in his self-made enterprise.
“General farming changes very quickly and you never know when something is going to go wrong,” he concludes. “We are on land that’s not really suited to other types of farming but eggs work well where we are.”
That’s an understatement if ever we heard one!
Glenballyeamon Eggs,
93 Ballyeamon Road,
Cushendall,
County Antrim,
BT44 0SN,
Northern Ireland.
Telephone 028 2177 2710 or 077 4648 9594
Email [email protected]
FB www.facebook.com/glenballyeamoneggs
Taken from Irish Tractor & Agri magazine Vol 5 No 1, January/February 2017
