Shoppers at Asda in Cardiff are being told that the sale of eggs is now restricted to two units only per customer. One woman who'd popped into her nearby Coryton branch took a photo of a notice which explained the rationing as being due to "low availability" while adding that staff were "working hard to keep the shelves stocked with items for everyone."
A spokesman for Asda said that the chain was probably the last of the UK's major supermarkets to introduce such restrictions and added the reasons behind the move were due to a growing crisis in the UK egg industry. Indeed, as reported last week, signs were also spotted in branches of Sainsbury’s stating "Can’t find the eggs you want? We’re dealing with supplier issues right now. We’re sorry for any hassle this causes." And fears have recently been growing about the need for potential rationing with urgent talks taking place across the industry about how to cope with such an event.
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The ongoing avian flu outbreak, which has so far seen around 48m UK chickens culled, coupled with spiralling feed and energy costs means many producers are currently being pushed to breaking point. Andrew Opie, director of food and sustainability at the British Retail Consortium, said: "Retailers are experts at managing supply chains and will continue to work hard to ensure minimal impact to customers despite ongoing supply chain pressures.”
However Welsh egg farmer Ioan Humphreys blamed supermarkets for not paying enough to people like him. "The price of new birds has gone up but our price of eggs has stayed the same. We physically can’t afford to produce these eggs," he said in one angry tweet. "Avian flu is not the main reason we're in an egg shortage, It's supermarkets doing as they please again."
Nevertheless, Defra has insisted there is no "immediate threat" to the food supply chain, including eggs. The British Egg Industry Council also said it is not aware of any shortages in retail or the wholesale market but added that it can "fluctuate in terms of supply and demand and availability is fairly tight at the present time". The average cost of a flock of 32,000 hens is an estimated £1.24m, with average revenue from egg sales only bringing in £921,000.
The British Free Range Egg Producers Association says this "unsustainability" has led to some producers being forced to quit. A spokesman said: "We warned 10 months ago that producers would pause or halt production if they weren’t paid a fair price for their product and that the knock-on effect would be fewer hens and fewer eggs."
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