Why price of eggs is about to go up
A carton of eggs might be the most versatile item you pop in your shopping trolley during your weekly shop — and one of the cheapest.
Whether you’re whipping up a quick omelette, honing your home baking skills or stirring into fried rice or a frittata for dinner, the options are endless.
But it turns out one of the cheapest supermarket staples is about to go up in price — and supplies could run low.
Countdown’s general manager of perishables Nikhil Sawant said the egg farmers who supply their supermarkets are under “significant inflationary pressure”.
“[Then there’s] increased production and feed costs, and also working through the impacts of upcoming regulatory changes to the sector.”
Sawant said Countdown supermarkets were experiencing a reduced supply of eggs as well as cost rises from a number of egg farmers.
“We have direct partnerships with our egg farmers and we’re continuing to work closely with them to keep eggs as affordable as we can and to ensure there’s plenty of supply.”
Inflation isn’t the only culprit — there might be another very good reason for the shortage.
By the end of the year, legislation made in 2012 that promised to phaseout caged-egg production will come into effect.
Sawant says the supermarket giant has been working with farmers for “a number of years” to prepare for the move away from caged eggs.
“In 2016, we launched our Egg Producer Programme for Free Range and Barn suppliers. This programme provides certainty to suppliers that, if they invest in free-range or barnegg farming, we’ll buy those eggs.
“We have also already transitioned 24 stores to cage-free to help us and our farmers learn more about future volumes and how customers will respond to the changes.”
The changes mean battery cages will no longer be legal by the end of 2022.
To adapt, farmers will have to adopt the colony, barn or free-range methods, which each come with their own challenges and expenses.
New Zealand’s Poultry Industry Association executive director Michael Brooks has said upgrading to the colony method would cost small egg producers “millions”.
Another issue is the cost of chicken feed, which has increased since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — a major wheat producer.
About 65 per cent of the cost of egg production comes from the feed, Brooks explained.
Despite this, most major supermarkets in New Zealand have also committed to stop selling colony eggs by 2027 at the latest.
Countdown will stop selling colony eggs by 2025.