Egg shortage warning as producers suffer continuing losses

A shortage of eggs in the shops is being predicted as higher retail prices are only partially passed back to farmers.

Analysis by the British Free Range Egg Producers Association (Bfrepa) shows that shoppers are typically paying 20p/doz more for free-range eggs than they did a few months ago, but farmers are only receiving an extra 5p/doz. 

Meanwhile, there has been no let-up in the pressure being put on producers as the cost of feed, fuel, and other essential inputs show few signs of reducing, driven higher by the continuing conflict in Ukraine.

See also: 5 tips for farmers who want to market their own eggs

“We welcome the small rise in egg prices in supermarkets, but it needs to go further and the money needs to make its way to farmers, not into the pockets of the supermarkets and the egg packers,” said Bfrepa chief executive Robert Gooch.

Analysis by consultants Adas for Bfrepa puts the average egg price across all sizes for free-range egg producers at just over 97p/doz in July, compared with 92p/doz in April.

High feed costs

But feed costs are also higher – albeit slightly down from a peak of £425/t last month – which, combined with other cost rises, means producers are currently losing about 38p/doz on their egg sales, equivalent to £10.69 a bird (after allowing for finance and depreciation).

This comes at a time when Asda, Morrisons and Tesco have put up their prices to consumers to £2.20p/doz for large eggs, compared with the £1.99-£2.10/doz they were asking in March.

With farmers still losing money on every egg produced, and with the national laying flock having already shrunk by 10% this year, Mr Gooch is calling for a 40p/doz rise for producers to avoid a shortage of British eggs in the next six to nine months.

Failure to do so would simply result in more imported eggs, produced to lower welfare standards, he said.