The eggs are like people. No two are the same. Some are pristine and some are smudged.
Sizes vary from small to extra jumbo.
But only a relative few are so damaged that they can't be salvaged for some good purpose. The Trappist monastery in Moncks Corner is one of only four places in the state that produces, grades and sells its own eggs. Egg sales are the abbey's main income producer, says Brother Stan Gumula, who has worked with Mepkin's egg business for almost all of his 42 years at the monastery. The abbey has been in the egg business since the monastery was founded more than 50 years ago, Brother Stan says. He came to Mepkin from Philadelphia 42 years ago.