Appeltje

Appeltje is an unmanned farm outlet at Kleine Oord 175 in Arnhem, next to the Albert Heijn at Rozet, one of six Appeltje Eitje shops run by two farmers from Dodewaard and Opheusden in the Betuwe to sell their own eggs and fruit.

The free-range eggs come from hens that go outside as well as indoors. The same farm also keeps barn hens with a covered run, whose eggs don't meet our bar, so look at which line you are buying. According to their website both flocks get conventional feed and the standard vaccinations but not the bird-flu vaccine. The Elstar apples and Conference pears are the farmers' own, kept in cold stores on the farm; how they are sprayed we couldn't confirm. The shelves also carry cheese, juices, jams, soups, granola, cream and meat products of unstated origin, which are not credited here.

The shop is self-service: you order, pay and collect inside, every day from 7:00 to 21:30, and gift packages ordered in the webshop are collected free in the shops.

The eggs reach the shelf the day they are laid, which their website says gives them at least 28 days of shelf life.