Tuesday 15 November 2022 12:59 PM Farmer slams supermarkets over egg shortages trends now
Supermarkets have today been accused of fuelling the chaos plaguing Britain's egg supply chain by refusing to pay farmers a 'fair price' to produce them.
Instagram-famous Welsh egg farmer Ioan Humphreys angrily tore into supermarkets in a series of videos as he blamed them for much of the disruption in the sector and choosing to import eggs from Italy instead of pay British farmers more.
Stark photos of empty shelves in supermarkets across the UK including Tesco, Lidl and Aldi lay bare the scale of the chaos engulfing the industry, as millions of birds are culled or placed under house-arrest in a bid to halt the spread of the country's worst ever bird flu outbreak.
Asda and Sainsbury's have now introduced rationing in an apparent attempt to quell the risk of panic-buying amid fears the supply could run out by Christmas.
The chaos has also impacted Britain's restaurants, with Wetherspoons providing breakfast substitutes amid egg shortages, while a popular bakery in Norwich which relies on eggs warned that the supply chain disruption has been 'disastrous'.
Though he admitted that the spread of avian flu had exacerbated the situation, Mr Humphreys said much of the disruption was being caused by the failure of supermarkets to pay more for eggs from British farmers experiencing a significant rise in the cost of production - from surging energy bills to increases in the cost of feed - caused by factors including the Ukraine War.
Speaking to MailOnline, the outspoken farmer added: 'It's not because we as farmers don't want to produce eggs, it's because we can't afford to produce eggs. All we want is a fair price to cover our costs and continue producing British eggs.'
Kaysie Davidson, who runs The Baking Addict out of Old Catton, told local media: 'I'm finding that in order to keep my prices the same I'm having to use cheaper ingredients which luckily hasn't changed the taste. Everything is getting so expensive.'
And Steve Magnall, co-owner of Two Magpies Bakery in Timberhill, added: 'Energy is our biggest rising cost - it will cost us more than £200,000 this year. Dairy has now almost doubled and on top of that flour has gone up by 25%. ... This year we are looking at being completely wiped out and might breakeven at best. We can't pass the costs on to the consumers all the time.'
The British Free Range Egg Producers Association said: 'We warned ten 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.'
The British Egg Industry Council said it is not aware of any shortages but added it can 'fluctuate in terms of supply and demand and availability is fairly tight at the present
