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A devilishly clever egg idea Jim Craven photo Dan Cunningham, president of Willamette Egg Farms near Eagle Point, demonstrates the company�s new deviled egg pack. The combination of packaged hard-boiled egg whites and seasoned mashed yolks was named the "best new deli product 2000" at the International Dairy, Deli and Bakery Convention in Anaheim, Calif. Willamette Farms markets new packaged deviled eggs By Jonel Aleccia EAGLE POINT � Relish the taste of deviled eggs, but hate the time and mess it takes to make them? You�re Dan Cunningham�s kind of consumer. The president of Willamette Egg Farms in Eagle Point has come up with a product that may soon have your picnic tables and holiday party platters bristling with instant egg hors d�oeuvres. What it lacks in a catchy name, Cunningham�s "Deviled Egg Component Kit" makes up for in clever convenience. At least that�s the judgment of retailers who attended the International Dairy, Deli and Bakery Convention held recently in Anaheim, Calif. They deemed the combination of packaged hard-boiled egg whites and seasoned mashed yolks as the "best new deli product 2000." Justly so, figures Cunningham, 55, who has been working for the better part of a year trying to deliver low-fuss deviled eggs. "The ladies today just don�t have the time to make them anymore," he explains. "But they�re good." The idea for the eggs came from a retailer who thought they�d be a big seller, especially during the hectic holiday season. "He wanted some way to get a deviled egg on the market, but we couldn�t get them in the market because we couldn�t get them to the store in the finished form," says Cunningham. Anyone who�s ever schlepped slippery eggs to a potluck understands the dilemma. The eggs must be hard-boiled, then sliced carefully enough to preserve the white and remove the yolks. The yolks must be "deviled" � mixed with spicy seasonings � then spooned carefully back into the egg halves. "We for years have had hard-boiled eggs for food service, so we were halfway there," he says. "But it�s one thing to hard-boil the egg and it�s another to slice the eggs and remove the yolk." Cunningham won�t divulge the details of his delicate system of yolk removal, but he�s clearly proud of the results. The deviled egg kits, soon to be introduced in grocery stores locally and across the country, include a bag of cooked whites, a star-tipped pastry bag of yolk mix and a plastic platter complete with egg-shaped indentations. They range in size from six to 75 egg halves, retailing from $2 to about $25. Convenience is the main virtue of the eggs. Jeanne Heard, sales manager for Willamette Egg Farms, filled nearly 2,000 eggs solo for a catered event this spring. "It didn�t take any time at all," she says. "It was just the time it takes to fill an egg half." But how the things taste is equally vital, says Cunningham. Current versions pack the egg whites in a sodium benzoate preservative, making for a slightly rubbery texture. He�s working on a dry pack version that should eliminate the problem. Aside from that, though, a sample of a platter of freshly-filled eggs revealed a snack that tasted just like a deviled egg should: creamy, rich with mayonnaise and tangy with mustard and spices. "There�s some areas that go for a milder (filling) and some that go for a tangy one, so there are two formulas for the filling," Cunningham says. "I like �em real well." Finished eggs sold in delis have a five-day pull date, while the unopened kits have an eight-week shelf life. Area grocery workers already make deviled eggs from prepackaged mixes and they expect consumer versions to sell briskly. "It takes about 2 minutes per tray, it�s really quick and really easy," says Staci Moody, salad bar supervisor for the North Phoenix Road Albertson�s in Medford. "I just sprinkle some paprika on and it�s really beautiful and it�s really good." For Cunningham, the eggs represent a foray into the lucrative "home meal replacement" field, a fancy term for foods folks don�t have to cook themselves. Industry analysts expect HMR items to figure $67 billion in annual sales by 2001, according to ACNielson�s Consumer Insight magazine. Cunningham is banking on his deviled egg kits to dish him a piece of that pie. Plus, he�s got one more idea to keep his chickens working hard: microwave breakfast meals featuring precooked scrambled eggs. "It�s just another idea," says Cunningham. "There�s only so many things you can do with eggs." Obituaries | Sports | Business | Classifieds | Tempo | Prime Times | So Oregon Sites | Outdoor Journal | Subscribe | Contact | Movies | Advertise | Real Estate Showcase | Archive | Editorials | Letters to the editor | Religion | Wake-up Call | NIE | Cyber Chef | Job Network | So Oregon Weather | WSJ Northwest | Forums | AP Wire | AP Money | F.A.Q. | Awards Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. The Community Newspaper Subsidiary of Dow Jones & Co, Inc Copyright �The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA