Cracking news! Shops get a million McDonald’s eggs

ONE million eggs a week usually sold to McDonald’s have been snapped up by supermarkets to ease a nationwide shortage.

Many shoppers have been unable to buy eggs due to panic-buying. But when 1,200 McDonald’s outlets across the country were closed last week as part of the lockdown, a Cumbrian egg company was left with a massive surplus.

David Brass, chief executive of the Lakes Free Range Egg Company, which has supplied McDonald’s for 15 years, said he sold his eggs to Sainsbury’s and Tesco within a day of the fast-food giant closing its restaurants. Staff at his

Penrith firm are now working longer shifts to sort eggs into boxes of six, 12 or 15 rather than the usual crates of 360.

Mr Brass, who supplies 300 million eggs a year in the UK – five per cent of the £944 million-a-year market – told The Mail on Sunday there were plenty of eggs but supply problems were caused by a shortage of cartons across Europe. Retail sources suggested shoppers may have to bring their own.

Supermarkets are also considering opening counters to sell eggs.