Saying 'NO' is so hard

Demand from restaurants etc for free range eggs is showing no signs of slowing down. We are taking on another restaurant in Cowes on Phillip Island but this week we have declined two other requests to supply our eggs. One potental order from a restaurant in Melbourne (part of a major chain) for 150 - 200 dozen eggs each week would have taken half our weekly production.We also had to knock back a cooking school which is starting in Carlton because we simply don't deliver that far. They only wanted one or two boxes a week (30 dozen) but it was too far away.
It's very hard saying 'NO' but our food miles policy limits us to within one hour of the farm.

It's great that there is such an underlying demand for free range eggs and that consumers (professional and private) are increasingly aware that many so-called 'free range' eggs are produced on farms where the hens are de-beaked and have little or no direct access to pasture.
It's really only by looking for the logo of the Free Range Farmers Association on packs of eggs that consumers can be sure they are buying genuine free range eggs. Member farms are inspected annually to ensure that they comply with the strict standards of the Association - such as no de-beaked birds, stocking density requirements and a clear audit trail for the eggs produced and sold by the farm..
We are currently receiving three or four requests each month from restaurants in Melbourne and that probably has something to do with publicity such as the Mercurio's Menu TV show last month and our website which gets over 1000 hits each week. There will be a spot on Talk To The Animals this month, so the phone will keep ringing!