Sainsbury’s has started to stock imported eggs from Italy in response to the UK’s mounting egg shortages.
The supermarket this week said it had broadened its supply base in response to the growing “supply challenges” seen by the sector in recent weeks – which have also driven the likes of Asda and Lidl to introduce rationing of two and three boxes per person respectively.
The barn eggs are supplied by Italian supplier Atlante Ingredients and are selling for £1.35 for a pack of six – in a departure from Sainsbury’s policy to stock only free-range eggs.
Resorting to imported shell eggs is a very rare occurrence for the UK multiples, following the UK egg sector’s successful efforts to largely eradicate salmonella over the past three decades – an achievement it claims sets it apart from the rest of Europe in terms of standards.
Sainsbury’s last resorted to imported eggs (again from Atlante) in May 2020, in response to “exceptionally high” demand from locked down shoppers.
“To help maintain availability we are temporarily sourcing some eggs from Italy, which will be clearly labelled on the packaging,” a Sainsbury’s spokeswoman told The Grocer, before adding the retailer was “committed to sourcing British as much as possible”.
The move comes amid growing fears of egg shortages in the mults, with retailers blaming the impact of avian flu on laying flocks as the main driver. But most major retailers approached by The Grocer, plus the British Retail Consortium, downplayed the impact of shortages and stressed supermarkets were “working hard to minimise the impact on customers”.
However, British Free Range Egg Producers Association CEO Robert Gooch accused the supermarkets of hiding behind the flu outbreak, which he called a “total red herring”, and pointed out the sector had so far lost just 700,000 hens this season, compared to two million last year – when there were no egg shortages.
“How can bird flu be the explanation?” he asked. “I’m furious retailers are hiding behind it and trying to take away the warnings that we’ve been providing,” Gooch said, pointing to concerns – first reported by The Grocer during the spring – that egg buyers were not doing enough to assist producers facing mounting production costs.
“Instead of investing in and managing a proper British supply chain, which is what [the retailers] claim to do for their customers, they have broken that supply chain and they are now importing substandard products,” Gooch added, while also warning importing eggs would undermine consumer confidence in Sainsbury’s.
“Seeing Italian eggs on the shelves is a wake-up call to all retailers that they can’t expect farmers to work for nothing. Enough is enough. I will be writing to Sainsbury’s to ask for a meeting to discuss how we forge a more sustainable future for egg producers,” he said.
“We have been warning for months that failing to pay farmers a price which allows them to make a profit would result in mass de-stocking or, worse still, an exodus from the industry.”
BFREPA estimates the total number of laying hens in the egg system has dropped by 4.9% since May, from 38.4m to 36.5m, as a result of the financial knife-edge many producers are sitting on.
His comments follow a report by The Grocer last week that shoppers were having to pay as much as 50% more for eggs now compared to in January, but despite these increases, for many producers, too little had been passed down the supply chain.
“It’s all predictable and very frustrating,” said Gooch. “Farmers have given up production because they weren’t being paid and they were losing money.”
A spokesman for Happy Egg Co owner Noble Foods – the UK’s largest supplier – added: “Egg producers and packers are losing money due to the unprecedented level of inflation in the sector, driven by global events.
“Additionally, the sector is experiencing a record number of avian flu cases, which have made producers extremely nervous about restocking their flocks. These issues of cost pressure and risk management require the entire supply chain to work together to find solutions to underlying challenges and ensure availability returns to normal levels.”
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