Eggs

Egg farmers are leaving the industry due to the high costs of running their businesses.

Many of the British Free Range Egg Producers Association's members are losing money due to high chicken feed prices and energy costs.

Farmers want the price of a dozen eggs to be increased by 40p.

supermarkets are constrained by how much cost they can pass on to customers

Farmers claim that despite the price of a dozen eggs rising by 45p in the supermarkets, they've only received between 5p and 10p of that increase.

In a social media video, an egg farmer from Wales said that supermarkets were reluctant to pay farmers a fair price for their produce at a time when costs had "skyrocketed" with feed, electric and birds.

Ioan HumphreysImage source, IoanHumphreys

We don't have the money to produce these eggs. The number of free-range hens ordered for next year's flocks has been reduced.

We are not going to be able to produce 8 million eggs a day. Three million eggs are not enough to be self-sufficient.

Farmers have also been hit by rising energy costs.

They have had to pay more for wheat, a key ingredient in chicken feed, which has spiked as a result of the Ukraine war, with both Russia and Ukraine producing about 30% of the global supply.

Millions of birds have been killed or culled in the past year due to the country's largest ever bird flu outbreak.

Eggs in shops are labeled "barn eggs" due to the fact that birds are kept inside for more than 16 weeks.

If retailers don't pay more, the UK could face an egg shortage.

There is no shortage of eggs according to the Department Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

The laying hen population is 38 million so it's not likely to affect the overall supply.

A survey of 157 of its members found that a third had reduced or paused production of egg farming.

The spokesman for the trade body said bird flu was a contributing factor in egg farmers struggling, but added pressure from prices was a greater factor at the moment.

Kevin was of the opinion that there were issues with egg availability, but he didn't think it was a crisis.

Consumers want to buy eggs and there are lots of pressures on farmers at the moment.

The British Retail Consortium said that bird flu had caused some disruption to egg supplies, but retailers were trying to minimize the impact on customers.

Andrew Opie said that retailers have long-standing, established relationships with their suppliers and know how important maintaining these are for their customers and businesses.

supermarkets source the majority of their food from the UK and know they need to pay a sustainable price to egg farmers but are constrained by how much additional cost they can pass onto consumers during a cost-of-living crisis."

  • Russia-Ukraine war
  • Agriculture
  • Cost of living
  • Food