Egg prices remain stubbornly high after a fresh bout of price hikes of as much as 20% in the past month, new analysis of Assosia data by The Grocer has revealed.
Despite a 2.2 percentage point decrease in grocery inflation [Kantar], which eased to 12.7% in the four weeks to 6 August, almost 30 egg lines have increased in price in the last four weeks, the Assosia data shows.
The biggest upward price moves are for Clarence Court Burford Brown Large and Medium egg lines, which have risen at Tesco by 20% and 14.55% respectively [4 weeks / w/c 10 July 2023].
Meanwhile at Waitrose, No1 Longstock Gold Free Range Eggs six-pack has increased by 10%, and Tesco Happy Egg Co Large Free Range Eggs six-pack has increased by 7.69%, contributing to a year on year rise of 43.59% for the line.
This latest round of increases contributes to significant price inflation across the category over the past year, with some lines rising by 50%.
Of the 113 lines stocked at the big four, Waitrose, Aldi and Lidl, 76 have had price increases above 20% [52 weeks / w/c 15 August 2022]. The biggest rise was seen in Purely Organic Free Range Eggs (10-pack) at Sainsbury’s, which has increased by 50% since August last year, rising from £3.30 to £4.95.
This was followed by Asda’s Just Essentials 15 Eggs and Lidl’s Simply 15 Eggs, both rising 47.41% from £1.25 to £1.99 in 12 months.
Significant rises have been seen across all retailers, with only five lines out of 113 seeing no price increase at all in the last year.
“There are a number of pressures facing the egg industry including high costs of energy and animal feed, which have been exacerbated by the war in Ukraine,” said Andrew Opie, director of food & sustainability for the British Retail Consortium. “But, despite these challenges, retailers are working with suppliers to offer egg farmers a sustainable price while ensuring affordability for consumers.”
This comes as last week Tesco announced £10m of extra support for egg producers, on top of the £27.5m invested last year. It also eased buying restrictions for consumers as availability improved.
“Egg consumption is generally lower during the summer, and we are also starting to see an increase in hen numbers as egg producer confidence grows,” said Mark Williams, British Egg Industry Council CEO. “This will all be helping with availability, although it may be some time before the flock size returns to capacity.”
“We’ve worked with our egg supplier for over 40 years and, to make sure we pay fairly, the price we pay for eggs has long been linked to the price of feed,” said a Waitrose spokeswoman. “We also review other inputs to cost such as energy and labour, and pay accordingly.
“All of our eggs are competitively priced and free-range, including our value Essential Waitrose eggs which are £1.25 for six,” she added.
Aldi, Lidl, Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons and Asda were approached for comment.
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