Behind The Scenes At Good Eggs Artisanal Grocery Delivery Headquarters In Brooklyn | Tasting Table NYC
Behind the scenes at Good Eggs' Brooklyn headquarters
The entrance to the Good Eggs headquarters isn't exactly inspiring. Housed in the massive industrial Pfizer Building in South Williamsburg, the office is located through a labyrinth of rickety elevators and linoleum hallways. But past all the inauspicious surroundings is a cheerful, colorful operation that's changing the way Brooklynites shop for food.
Good Eggs is the brainchild of two Silicon Valley techies who wanted to find a better way to support local food systems. The concept was simple: Get people to shop for local products online, then deliver their groceries to their door. The company was founded in San Francisco in 2011 and now has outposts in L.A., New Orleans and Brooklyn.
Top: company-issued bling; Bottom: cherry tomatoes and blueberries
When we visited, the New York headquarters were a whirr of activity—crates of sweet stone fruit and rainbow-bright heirloom tomatoes were being bagged into individual portions, orbs of creamy burrata and pale blue eggs were being sorted in the walk-in and bags of gluten-free granola rested alongside buckwheat baguettes.
If you've never ordered from Good Eggs before, here's how it works: The farmers, bakers, fishers and foragers who supply each location have 36 hours from the time they see an order to get their product to Good Eggs, which in turn sorts and bundles everything in a given purchase—produce, dairy, meat, pantry staples and more—and gets deliveries out almost immediately.
Packing up stone fruit
Because it's a direct ordering system, the producers get to know you and your preferences. Order the same Wild Hive Farm stone-ground polenta every week? They might slip you some soft wheat berries to try. Producers set their own prices, which are often lower than market rates because there's less labor and transport involved.
So far, business is booming: Good Eggs will soon move to a larger space in Bushwick and launch service in Manhattan in early 2015. Ready to place your order? Good Eggs' manager Erin Zimmer picked a few of her of-the-moment favorites:
Brooklyn Grange's Mixed Cherry Tomatoes
"I can easily down a pint of these sweet, vine-fragrant, bite-size tomatoes in one sitting."
"I've decided that if I were a chicken, I'd want to live at Fishkill Farms. The happy, healthy chickens are free to roam around and nibble on food scraps from the farm, and what they end up laying are the most golden-yolked, flavorful eggs around."
White Moustache's Date Persian Yogurt
"I have to eat it with a tiny spoon because it's so decadently thick. The date preserves at the bottom give it just the right amount of natural sweetness."
Momo Dressing
"Momo's is the exception to my make-your-own-salad-dressing rule. I eat so many more salads just as a vehicle for more of the Ginger, Sesame and Miso dressings." (We love it, too!)
Runner & Stone Bakery's Walnut Levain
"This walnut-studded loaf is that ideal golden-brown shade right out of the oven and has a little sourdough tang after its overnight fermentation. It doesn't need anything, but a swipe of butter on top never hurts."