IMPRESSING business award judges is challenging, but having finicky chefs scrutinise your entire operation can be eggs-hausting.
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It's a good thing, then, that the free-range egg team at The Local Yolk, in Cooranbong, has struck on a winning formula.
The company recently won the outstanding specialised business category in the 2019 Local Business Awards - Hunter.
The company - a spin-off from the A C Moncrieff and Sons business - has been operating for three years.
Founder Neal Moncrieff said The Local Yolk eggs had quickly found new markets.
"This is solely a free-range egg-producing company with a capacity for 36,000 birds," Mr Moncrieff said.
"We grade and pack eggs for retail and wholesale markets, which gives us access to the public. We run The Local Yolk and Lake Macquarie Free Range Egg brands."
The Local Yolk eggs are found in stores across Lake Macquarie, Newcastle, Sydney, the Central Coast, Byron Bay and Brisbane. And they're fast becoming the eggs of choice at some cafes and restaurants.
Mr Moncrieff said chefs visited the Cooranbong operation to assess the eggs for their kitchens.
And they are hard markers.
"The chefs are extremely picky. If they don't like your product, you're out," Mr Moncrieff said.
The Local Yolk philosophy is to treat the birds well, and to get the resulting eggs to customers quickly, he said.
Eggs laid today are in the shops within 48 hours. That freshness makes the difference.
It's what chefs notice, too. They pick up on the poaching rate - that is the proportion of eggs that hold their form perfectly during poaching.
Mr Moncrieff said the company was a certified Level 3 free-range egg producer, the highest level achievable.
He praised his children, Wade, Jasmine, Larnee and Shaye Moncrieff who, along with his daughter-in-law, Elise Moncrieff, were co-managers of the operation.
"Elise is our business development manager, and she has made a big difference," he said.
"This award is an enormous achievement for them all."
