California

California company to donate 6 million of eggs to ease coronavirus burden

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Eggs being processed at the J.S. West and Company egg-laying operation near Livingston. (Bart Ah You/bahyou@modbee.com)

NuCal Foods, an egg distributor based in Ripon, California, is donating 6 million of them to nonprofits strained by the coronavirus emergency.

The eggs will go to shelters, soup kitchens and other providers around California that are serving an increasing number of meals because of COVID-19.

These aren’t whole, fresh eggs in cartons of a dozen each, but rather beaten, frozen eggs in 5-gallon pails. They’re of no use for Easter egg hunts, in other words, but they’re welcome nonetheless.

“No one should go hungry during this challenging COVID-19 emergency,” NuCal President Dave Crockett said in a news release Tuesday. “With school closures and job losses, thousands of Californians will depend on local nonprofits for help.”

NuCal is a cooperative owned by four leading egg producers – JS West & Cos. of Modesto, Gemperle Family Farms of Turlock, Valley Fresh Foods of Turlock, and Sunrise Farms of Petaluma.

The eggs are sold under seven labels – Barnstar, Becky, Cal Eggs, Eggland’s Best, Horizon, Nulaid and Santa Rosa.

Nonprofits needing eggs can call Dawn Forsmann at 209-254-2200. NuCal would also like to hear from trucking companies that can volunteer to deliver the product.

This story was originally published April 1, 2020 at 1:18 PM with the headline "California company to donate 6 million of eggs to ease coronavirus burden."

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John Holland
The Modesto Bee
John Holland covers agriculture, transportation and general assignment news. He has been with The Modesto Bee since 2000 and previously worked at newspapers in Sonora and Visalia. He was born and raised in San Francisco and has a journalism degree from UC Berkeley.
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