Perhaps one of the best thing about staying in a hotel is the breakfast. The extensive buffet in the morning tempts many of us to eat just a little bit more than we’re used to eating at home. We can’t blame you, because after all, who can resist a fresh cup of coffee and an omelet prepared to your liking?

It’s the omelet we’d like to talk about. Have you ever asked yourself where the food on your table is coming from? In this article, we’re sharing the story of our eggs. The story started in 2009, when David Keller moved, together with his wife and new-born baby, to Siem Reap. It wasn’t their first stint in Cambodia, as they both lived in Phnom Penh before where they worked with street children. David’s mission always has been to create jobs to give diligent people opportunities to learn and to take care of their families. After putting a lot of thoughts into the matter, he decided to make his own chicken barn. He started in his backyard, with a small barn home to nine free range chickens. Eggscellent was born; a unique concept and the first chicken farm in Siem Reap with egg-laying chickens that freely roam around in their own yard. Most other farmers are keeping battery hens, to better control the environment and egg production.

After a while, David figured out which feed worked best for his chickens. He separated his chicks into three groups and fed them all different types of fresh market feed. Obviously, this feed is important, because it goes right into the eggs. At that stage, he decided it was time to grow his farm and moved out to the countryside, close to Kbal Spean, an area where still many landmines were hidden. As the nearest minefield was only 2 kilometers away, the land had to go through a de-mining process before he could start the farm. No landmines were found, but they did find heaps of bullets.

Today, the farm has grown a lot but is still considered a small farm, with only 15 employees. David’s mission of creating fair jobs in the Cambodian countryside hasn’t changed since; all of his staff members at Eggscellent are Cambodians, who’re happily working at the farm or in town for delivery or sales purposes. The team is looking after an average of 4,000 chickens. Yes, we said average, because the number of chickens varies per season. A lot of planning goes into this, as it takes approximately 6 months to get the animals’ body ready for egg production. As opposed to battery hens, Eggscellent’s hens eat more and produce less, as a lot of energy is dedicated to walking around. This also leads to more breakage; another factor to consider when managing the number of chickens required to fulfil the demand.

Working at a chicken farm comes with risks. Some of the staff have been exposed to rural dangers, like snake encounters. Thankfully, nobody ever got injured and David is a proud leader of his diligent and hard-working team. After all, happy employees, enjoying a fair job, will result in happy chickens and better eggs. Eggscellent’s eggs have become so popular that soon they’ll also be available in Phnom Penh. By the end of the year, Eggscellent starts delivering to the country’s capital city.

Now you know that our eggs are coming from happy, free-range chickens, we like to invite you to breakfast at The Aviary Hotel. Enjoy our extensive buffet any day of the week, at only USD 12 nett per person. See you soon!

Photo courtesy @raymondnraymond (Instagram)