CORNUCOPIA
Suthon Sukphisit suggests the days of cheap eggs across Thailand may be coming to a sticky end.
If we were to cast the situation of the Thai egg industry in the form of a story, there would be three main characters. First would be the big company that supplies roosters and chickens (the birds that produce the eggs) to breeders. Second is the large farm that raises chickens for their eggs, and third is the government official who controls the quantities of eggs produced.
In the past, the government office responsible gave concessions that permitted freedom to suppliers of the egg-producing birds in determining the quantities they would sell. The owners of the concessions were likely to be farm owners who also produced feed for the chickens. They had control over the price of eggs, which they could manipulate on the basis of how many of them they had on hand to sell.
After consumers had complained numerous times about high egg prices, the government cancelled the concessions and allowed the eggs to be supplied in uncontrolled numbers, but it had to be by companies that had qualities that the government required. Government officials did control the number of breeding roosters and hens that were supplied to the farms, however, which allowed them to estimate how many eggs would reach the market, whether the supply would be sufficient to meet demand, and whether the prices being charged were just.
The producing farms are supervised in connection with the way birds are raised. Medicines used, and eggs produced, must be certifiably safe because some of them are exported.
There is another character, however, the biggest of them all, but one with no power. This is the consumer who eats the eggs and has to endure price changes. When prices go up, it becomes more expensive to cook dishes at home or in restaurants. People have no way of knowing why eggs have become pricier and to what extend the people connected with the industry are being enriched.
In the past, there was an easy way out of this pricing problem. If prices were high, it was easy to just not buy the large ones. The biggest eggs, the ones graded 0, are priced at 50-60 baht for cartons of 10 as sold in department store food sections and supermarkets, neatly packaged in boxes. In fresh markets they are sold individually according to the customer’s requirement and presented in plastic bags, priced at 4.80-5 baht apiece. If the eggs are of the sizes graded 1, 2, or 3, however, the price will be lower. Naturally, many people opt for the smaller, less expensive eggs.
Over the past year or so, a new method has appeared for selling eggs. A roofed pickup truck packed with eggs in cardboard boxes of 30 each offers size 0 eggs for 85-95 baht per box. This comes to 2.80-3.20 baht apiece.
These pickup trucks move about, making the rounds. In the provinces they often park at talaad nat, or informal markets, whereas in the areas around Bangkok they drive through different communities or park at the roadside in front of fresh markets.
In provincial areas, general stores located in fresh markets like to set eggs out for sale, although they prefer the smaller grade 2 or 3 sizes, which they sell for 75 baht a box. This is a golden opportunity for customers, who are able to enjoy eggs at a low price. They generally prefer to buy them as boxes of 30, which means that they may be eating more eggs than usual without realising it because of the low price.
But how long can this happy situation last? It is a timely question because there is news that there is a government body, the Egg Board, that has a policy to control the price of eggs. A group of egg farm owners have complained about the low price of eggs. They reported that buyers (the pickup trucks) would buy eggs directly from the producing farms, paying a flat rate of 2.50 baht each for all eggs regardless of size. Production costs for the farmers came to 2.95 baht, however, so they were losing money.
We do not know yet what eggs will cost throughout 2017 because the government has limited the number that will reach the market during the entire year to about 16 billion. This figure was arrived at on the basis of figures from previous years. It appears sufficient because if it is divided by the number of people living in Thailand and spaced out over the whole year, it comes to less than one egg per person per day. They seem to have thought that the proper amount would come to one egg per person per day. This is unlikely, and there is concern that if the number is realised, the excess supply will cause the price of eggs to fall, and farmers will be upset.
But eggs are needed not only by individual consumers but also by the food industry, which uses them in many desserts and other products. A person may not eat an egg on a given day but may eat a prepared food product that includes them without realising it.
Then there are eggs eaten by children in line with the national policy encouraging them to eat more eggs. Another policy seeks to increase the number of tourists, who consume eggs in great quantities, many having them for breakfast every morning. The number of eggs consumed by industry, children and tourists must all be subtracted from the target total number produced for the annual market.
Will the eggs remaining from the total that reach the market be more expensive? Will there still be a golden opportunity for ordinary consumers? We will find out.