Tesco PLC (LSE:TSCO) has joined Asda and Lidl in limiting the number eggs customers can buy due to nationwide shortages caused by avian flu and months of rising costs for farmers.
Customers will only be able to purchase three boxes of eggs at the UK’s largest supermarket, which last week reassured that it had good availability but was working with suppliers.
Poultry farmers have been hit by rising operating costs this year, with soaring energy bills and feed prices seeing businesses increasingly worse off.
Alongside this, the UK is facing a record outbreak of avian flu, with millions of birds being culled and the remainder being isolated to prevent the spread of the disease.
Ioan Roberts, a Welsh-based egg producer told Farmers Weekly: “It costs more to produce the eggs than we are getting paid. We are keeping the eggs empty because it is not a viable business.”
He added: “My feed bill has increased from £250 to £400 per tonne. My electricity bill has more than tripled from £15,000 to £72,000 per year.”
While the price of eggs in shops has risen, farmers have said little of the increases are reaching them, with producers receiving an average of 5p-10p more per dozen eggs despite supermarkets hiking the prices by roughly 45p.
Lidl has also limited customers to three boxes of eggs, while in Asda customers can only buy two boxes each, an issue for many who have turned to baking and home-cooking to deal with rising living costs.
Meanwhile, JD Wetherspoon PLC (LSE:JDW) also introduced measures to cope with shortages, switching up the breakfast offerings in its pubs across the UK.
Tesco’s share price was up 0.9% to 234p, while Wetherspoon’s was down 0.8% to 445p.