Posted by: Defra Press
Office
There has been further coverage today of some supermarkets
reporting shortages in supplies of eggs, following the avian
influenza outbreak and rising costs for farmers due to the war in
Ukraine.
The Daily
Mail reports on its front page that some supermarkets
such as Asda and Lidl are due to limit the number of egg boxes
that customers can buy. The piece notes that poultry farmers are
facing the largest ever outbreak of bird flu with the number of
cases on farms continuing to rise. It also references comments
from producers who have raised concerns that current supermarket
prices for eggs do not reflect the rising cost of energy and
poultry feed.
The Telegraph quotes
the British Retail Consortium’s (BRC) director of food and
sustainability, Andrew Opie, saying that while avian flu has
disrupted the supply of some egg ranges, retailers are experts at
managing supply chains and are working hard to minimise impact on
customers.
BBC News Online also
states that some shops including Asda and Lidl have started to
ration the number of boxes of eggs customers can buy, however,
Tesco and Morrisons have said they do not face any major supply
issues.
While there is a tightening of the egg market due to a number of
factors including rising input costs for feed and energy, partly
caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the UK’s food supply
chain is resilient. We are keeping the egg market under review
through the UK Agriculture Market Monitoring Group.
In response to the impacts of bird flu, we are also supporting farmers and
producers through changes to the existing bird flu
compensation scheme and a temporary relaxation of marketing rules
allowing certain seasonal poultry products to be frozen and later
sold as defrosted.
The Environment Secretary Dr Thérèse Coffey highlighted in
parliament today that recognising there are nearly 40 million egg
laying hens available, she is confident we can get through this
supply difficulty in the short term.
A Defra spokesperson said:
“We understand the difficulties that rising input costs for feed
and energy over the last year, combined with the bird flu
outbreak, are causing for farmers and we are working with
industry to monitor the market.
“The UK’s food supply chain is resilient – there are 38 million
laying hens across the country and we are not expecting any
significant impact to the overall supply."
