Selling white eggs

My wife told me recently that there are a bunch of folks in our area who have been saying they can't seem to sell white eggs. She heard it on a local facebook ag group. Anybody else experience this? Just curious about the phenomenon.

New Englanders tend to prefer brown eggs, except maybe at Easter-time since the white ones are more predictable if you're dyeing them.

Years ago in RI there was a egg commercial with a catchy jingle that went "Brown eggs are local eggs and local eggs are fresh"

I find that interesting. I know people that won't take my eggs because they are so used to white they can't stand eating a colored one. So weird.

I guess I could see people wanting to avoid grocery store resell by not buying white eggs?

Hahaha we had that jingle here too. I grew up eating white eggs but most of our birds lay brown eggs now.

My MIL swears brown ones are better for noodle making, not sure how true it is but she tends to think the white ones are not as good as brown...

There is some truth to it in my experience. I've noticed that the qualities of the egg are breed-specific. The best eggs I had for hard-boiling were from my Barnevelders, which also had a dark brown shell. But it's not the colour of the shell changing the properties, it's the overall genetics of the chicken which produces the egg. I've also had individual hens which laid eggs that would never hard boil properly - I would generally turn those hens into soup pretty fast.

Europeans in general don't seem to like white eggs. They tend to equate it to white bread, ie lacking in fibre or some other essential nutrient.

there is truth in that, people go to the store, that bastion of food, and the natural and organic eggs in the expensive cartons are brown, so now people have become accustomed farm eggs= brown eggs.
i have had people tell me in the past they bought eggs and expeccted them to be brown from the farm , but white eggs could be store eggs just repackaged, i had never considered anyone doing that, but since its possible , i suppose it makes a wierd sort of sense

If you look at the poultry breeds developed in the US, Plymouth Rock, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Delaware... most are New England developed, and they all lay brown eggs.  So it's "Local Food" to the Nth degree.  I wouldn't be surprised to discover, subconsciously or not, that many New Englanders view brown eggs as almost a patriotic duty.  

I don't think my girlfriend in Kenya had ever heard the word organic before she heard me say it. But when we were shopping for eggs, there were some that were pure white. She told me those ones had no taste and cooked up softer, because those chickens were raised in a barn eating corn. She chose those with dark speckles on a brown background, which had bright orange yolks. She said those chickens ate grass and bugs and other things that are natural to chickens.

Some people selling eggs on the side of the road had pure white eggs. These were purchased in bulk from large producers, for resale. We did well buying from those who only had small quantities of brown eggs that were inconsistent in size. They were often sold by children who were sent to the roadside by their parents. 100% of that money went to the small farmer who produced a superior product. The resellers typically made 20% or so on eggs brought from the big producers.

It was about the same with chicken meat. She said she only likes village chicken. These are chickens that run freely around every farm and around small villages, in a place where people can't afford and don't buy pesticides. We visited her grandmother twice and each time, a young cousin was sent out to kill a couple free range chickens. He was also sent to the garden to harvest whatever was ready. With a 12-month harvest, meal planning is determined by what is ready in the garden and on the fruit trees. Every household has stored dried goods, like rice beans and salt, but nobody seems to store meat, eggs, milk, fruit and vegetables for any length of time.

I don't know about not buying them at all, but I do know colorful sets of eggs seem to go for more at the local farmers markets.  People like the novelty of brown, tan, blue, green, etc.  I often see the sets with white mixed in.

Brianna Ganskopp wrote:I don't know about not buying them at all, but I do know colorful sets of eggs seem to go for more at the local farmers markets.  People like the novelty of brown, tan, blue, green, etc.  I often see the sets with white mixed in.

I flat out don't buy white layers.  When I've been given one, I jumped on the opportunity to sell her to someone looking for established layers.