Egg shortages to last beyond Christmas, warns industry as government denies claims

Egg shortage in the UK is expected to last beyond Christmas, industry bodies have warned amid reports of them being rationed across major supermarkets. The government meanwhile has denied the claims saying “we can get through”.

“It’s very hard to predict but we can certainly see [shortages] lasting until after Christmas,” The Guardian quoted a spokesperson pf British Free Range Egg Producers Association (BFREPA ) as saying, adding that a third of its members had cut back on production or left the industry because they were unable to cover their costs. 

BFREPA said that bird flu-related culls had claimed 750,000 laying hens since 1 October alone, compared with 1.8 million over the whole of last year. 

Andrew Joret, the chair of the British Egg Industry Council, said higher production costs were mainly to blame for the pressure on egg supply, along with hens lost to bird flu, and strong consumer demand, with eggs seen as a relatively cheap source of protein. 

“While we expect supply to return to normal once cost pressures ease, we don’t know when this will be, and egg packers and producers continue to lose money. We are doing everything we can to ensure that eggs are on the shelves while the industry works with retailers so that it can get back on its feet as quickly as possible.” 

Andrew Opie, the director of food and sustainability at the British Retail Consortium, said: “Supermarkets source the vast 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 on to consumers during a cost-of-living crisis.” 

The environment secretary, Thérèse Coffey, said on Thursday (17) there were still nearly 40 million egg-laying hens in the UK and expressed confidence that “we can get through this supply difficulty in the short term”. 

Coffey’s comments came as Asda and Lidl limit the number of boxes of eggs customers can buy amid supply disruptions caused by rising costs and bird flu. 

Asda is limiting customers to two boxes of eggs each. Lidl is restricting customers in some stores to three boxes, while Waitrose said it had not introduced any limits, but was “continuing to monitor customer demand”, stated reports.

Apart from inflationary pressures which have sent the price of key food items, including bacon, sausages and baked beans, soaring, the country is also contending with a devastating outbreak of avian influenza.