Anger over Italian egg imports
EGG industry leaders have called for an urgent meeting with Sainsbury’s after the UK’s second largest supermarket chain confirmed it is currently stocking eggs imported from Italy.
Robert Gooch, chief executive of the British Free Range Egg Producers Association (BFREPA), said he was not surprised by the development, which follows warnings he made in March that the country would be “short of British eggs by Christmas” if farmers were not paid a “sustainable price” for their produce.
Soaring costs of production, which include chicken feed, energy, diesel, pullets and packaging, have crippled many businesses, causing farms to reduce hen numbers, pause production temporarily, or quit the industry altogether.
“We have been warning for months that failing to pay farmers a price which allows them to make a profit would result in mass de-stocking or, worse still, an exodus from the industry,” Mr Gooch said.
“Seeing Italian eggs on the shelves is a wake-up call to all retailers that they can’t expect farmers to work for nothing. Enough is enough.
“I will be writing to Sainsbury’s to ask for a meeting to discuss how we forge a more sustainable future for egg producers. Sainsbury’s has made strong commitments to British free range egg producers in the past and I hope a positive dialogue can bring about change from what is a disappointing situation.”
Photographs of Italian eggs on Sainsbury’s shelves were first published on Twitter and the development has now been widely reported by national media outlets.
Data collected by the BFREPA shows the average price of a dozen eggs has risen by about 50 pence in supermarkets but some farmers have only seen a price rise of between five and 10 pence.
In March, BFREPA called on all retailers to increase the price paid to farmers by 40 pence per dozen.
Avian Influenza has compounded the issue of egg availability, with the disease resulting in the compulsory culling of hundreds of thousands of egg-laying hens across colony, barn, and free range systems.
According to the BFREPA, there are approximately 36.7 million egg laying birds in the national flock, but there is capacity on farms for more than 44 million hens.
Speaking to the WDP in April, Somerset egg producer Tom Pope said the situation was “dire”.
He added: “The feed price alone increasing by £100 per tonne adds 20p to the cost of producing a dozen eggs on the farm, and every consumer will have heard about the energy price rises that are about to hit. For us, that means our energy bill will increase 200% on the current deal we have, leaving us with £40,000 to pay.”