Nationwide egg shortage could hit shell-shocked Kiwis in the back pocket

Saturday, 13 April 2019

Whether you like them fried, poached or scrambled, the celebrated Sunday brunch could be about to get more expensive due to a nationwide egg-tastrophe.

The egg shortage has left free range egg suppliers scrambling to keep up with soaring demand as some supermarket stores' shelves are left bare.

Countdown's head of perishables for deli and bakery Nikhil Sawant​ said there had been a surge in demand for barn and free-range eggs in the past three months that was putting some pressure on supply.

'We're working closely with our egg farmers as we all adjust to this increased demand, but there are unfortunately going to be shortages from time to time.'  

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Sawant said the supermarket giant was trying their best to keep shortages to a minimum and were expecting supply to improve in the coming months.

Poultry Industry Association of New Zealand executive director Michael Brooks said the supply issue was a result of the free-range and barn hen numbers falling from 4.2 million to 3.6 million over the past year.

That decline was caused by changes in the rules around caging hens and delays brought about getting resource consents for replacement farm systems.

'This will also happen with further current cages to go in December 2020 and then all by 2022. The two supermarkets' decisions to cease to accept colony eggs by 2025-2026 has also impacted on farmer decisions and led to major uncertainty.'

On Wednesday, egg supplies at the St Luke's Countdown in Auckland were close to running out, and concerned shoppers sought information from supermarket staff.

Down the road at the Cereal Killa Cafe in Mt Eden, hundreds of eggs were being served up to hungry customers this weekend.

'On Saturday morning we had about 300 customers,' the cafe's manager Ashal Patel said.

Patel said the cafe goes through about 22 dozen eggs in a week, and most of them are free range.

'We offer any style of eggs – whatever the customer wants we make it.'

However, Patel said he has yet to notice an egg shortage.

Wholesome New Zealand chief executive Ian Higgins said the shortage was simply the ebb and flow of the industry.

'Sometimes there's a surplus; sometimes there's a shortage. That's what happens in the nature of all farming.

'We're dealing with animals here; we can't just dial it up and make an egg pop out of them.'

His company supplies most of Countdown as well as Foodstuffs and has depots throughout the country.

'We endeavour to look after our stores, and sometimes we just can't get up to that level. It's no different to fruit and vegetables. At times you can't get them because they're short.'

Conversely, when there was an over-supply of eggs, they were often put on special, he said.

'It was only six months ago that eggs were bloody cheap. There were some really sharp specials out there, and you could buy them next for nothing.'

Wholesome Foods has lodged a resource consent to expand its operations to meet the growing demand for free-range eggs. But that process takes time, Higgins said.

'We're certainly flat out building as fast as we can as far as our dollar will stretch.'

Frenz Eggs chief executive Rob Darby said the shortage was 'reasonably general' across New Zealand. 

'Free range is probably selling more than it ever has been because there is simply an egg shortage and someone wanting eggs is going to buy the next cheapest eggs.'

Darby said the shortage was a cumulation of lots of small factors. While supermarkets were doing their best to work with suppliers, caged egg farmers drove the poultry industry because of their size and these farmers were either exiting the industry or switching to alternative egg farming to meet new regulations.

If one of those farms developed an issue, it caused a major supply issue, he said.

'If you have 20,000-40,000 bird sheds and one of them has an issue, or they decide to go out and replace or restock, it can leave a big hole in an industry that's quite small.

'In 30 years I have seen surpluses and shortages go every five to six months, and I would say that within four to six months it will all be over.'

But the current shortage was complicated by those other factors, he said.

Frenz produce around 500,000 free-range eggs a week from 20 farms across New Zealand supplying local supermarkets as well as exporting overseas. It was hard to know how much of the demand was a result of consumers switching to free range or cage free eggs, he said.

'It's definitely a factor. There are more people wanting to do the right thing.'