What Are Egg Delivery Services?

Remember when pizza seemed to be the only food delivery option? Nowadays, anything we want to eat seems to be right at our fingertips — literally a click of a button away.

Getting a carton of eggs delivered is not a new concept, thanks to grocery delivery services such as Instacart and Amazon Prime. But eggs delivered directly from the farm, that skip the grocery middle-man, are a relatively newer option gaining traction. You can now order a box of freshly laid eggs straight from the hen to your frying pan.

If the thought of shipping eggs conjures up an image of a box of broken Humpty Dumpties well past their best-by date arriving at your door, worry not. The emergence and growing popularity of these new services comes with the infrastructure that ensures the fragile guys show up whole, fresh, and even healthier than their grocery store counterparts. 

So, how does an egg delivery service work, and what are the benefits?

Farm-to-consumer egg delivery services mean farm fresh eggs right at your doorstep — it's like having your very own chicken coop in your backyard. Many of the farms offering the service pack the cartons and ship them to your kitchen anywhere between 24 hours, as with Fresh Egg Co., up to seven days, as with Seven Sons, after the eggs are laid. This is much faster than the commercial eggs you purchase in the store that typically don't even make it to the grocery store shelves until a month or more after being laid, per Fresh Egg Co.

The eggs are securely cushioned and packed to prevent cracking – Seven Sons farm even designed a special "egg snuggler" to ensure their eggs arrive sans any cracks. Their services available ship anywhere within the continental United States, with shipping fees dependent upon location. Other farms, like The Family Cow, offer pickup spots. 

Much like a meal kit or meal plan service, some farm-to-consumer egg delivery services, such as Fresh Egg Co., offer a subscription service so you never run out of your egg supply.

One of the differences of ordering your eggs straight from the farm in lieu of the shelves is that the outside bloom is still intact. The bloom is a protective layer on the shell that keeps bacteria out imparted when the hen lays the egg, via MasterClass. Commercial eggs you find at grocery stores in the United States have typically been washed of the bloom and pasteurized. While this commercial process kills off bacteria as well, it also requires the eggs to be refrigerated. Much like how refrigerating eggs in Europe is unnecessary, and even possibly harmful, farm-to-consumer delivered eggs are safe hanging out on your kitchen counter for this reason (via Business Insider).

A benefit of ordering eggs straight from the farmer is transparency and quality. Farm fresh eggs available for delivery are often from pasture-raised, ethically and humanely-treated chickens. There are no styrofoam boxes and pale yellow yolks. Thanks to their natural diet of bugs and grass, pasture-raised hens deliver beautiful, golden yolks that are chock full of nutrients such as omega-3 fatty acids, and vitamin A and E, per Your Family Farmer.