Forget flour, loo rolls, computer chips or petrol it may shock you that the next buying crisis will be a box of eggs. Exponential increases to chicken feed are at the forefront of the surge in costs and sadly exacerbated by the war in Ukraine. Factor in the price hike in energy supplies as well as labour shortages it is no surprise that our farmers are literally losing money on every egg they produce. They cannot absorb these costs and, unless passed on, will no longer have a viable business.
Farmers who specialise in free range eggs are being hit even harder since the break out of Avian Flu last year. Their chickens that roamed freely outside had to be moved inside to avoid the spread of this deadly disease. Now roaming freely inside the same hens are still laying the same eggs but can no longer be classified as “free range”. Instead they are “barn eggs” which means farmers who specialise in producing free range eggs are losing margin.
Oh, and remember Jeremey Clarkson’s rant about the egg boxes? (See our blog here) Even if half a dozen eggs can be produced there is still a supply/demand issue of cardboard boxes.
Egg Production supply chain issues: