It is a health measure because of the bird flu: all farms must stay warm. This is obviously bad news which could further increase the price of eggs, knowing that they have already increased a lot. According to Dominique Schelcher, the boss of System U, with +50%; eggs are one of the products for which the price has risen the most this year. In question, in particular, the slaughter of many poultry to stem the spread of the disease. Result: fewer laying hens and therefore fewer eggs.
However, as with other foods, producers are subject to rising cereal prices, to feed poultry, transport prices, packaging, etc. This confinement of poultry risks further aggravating the situation when supermarkets are already struggling to get supplies, so we must be prepared for shortages. Before this confinement, the national eggs union was already alerting to the problems of shortages and spoke of a “critical” situation.
With inflation, for many households, the egg has nevertheless become a substitute for meat or fish that have become unaffordable. To obtain animal protein, many are turning to eggs: +5% more sales in the last three months, compared to the same period last year. And the problem is there: on the one hand, you have less supply because of the drop in production and, on the other hand, more demand from consumers. Hence the tension.
Apart from daily consumption, the egg is also used as the basis for many preparations, such as mayonnaise, sauces, cakes, ready meals, etc. There is therefore a risk of a domino effect on many products in the food industry. More broadly, the shortage impacts the entire sector: chickens, ducklings, chicks… According to professionals, French production could drop by 10% this year. We must therefore expect some difficulty in finding the traditional Christmas turkey. Ditto for foie gras. The State is trying to compensate for the losses on the side of the breeders (not the consumers!) and it is costing it dearly: the compensation already exceeds one billion euros.