Countdown's general manager of perishables Nikhil Sawant told The New Zealand Herald late last month that the egg farmers who supply their supermarkets were currently under “significant inflationary pressure”.
“Then there's increased production and feed costs, and working through the impacts of upcoming regulatory changes to the sector.”
Countdown supermarkets were experiencing a reduced supply of eggs as well as cost increases from a number of egg farmers,” Mr Sawant said
“We have direct partnerships with our egg farmers and we're continuing to work closely with them to keep eggs as affordable as we can and to ensure there's plenty of supply.”
The shortage varies across outlets.
In Gisborne, for example, Countdown's shelves were empty of eggs for a while earlier this week when a Herald reporter visited the store, but subsequently further orders arrived.
Pak'nSave reported yesterday that they were doing “pretty good” for egg supply at this stage.
A suburban supermarket The Herald visited yesterday had only local free-range eggs available, but staff said they were expecting another delivery of other egg brands.
Gisborne free-range egg producers Kirkfield Family Farm have noted an increase in demand for their product.
“The periodic shortages definitely create a higher demand for our eggs, but the problem is the chooks can only produce a certain number of eggs on a daily basis,” Beau Kirk said.
“The shortage has been a cyclical problem. It comes and goes, and I cannot see it ending any time soon.
“It's not a production cost increase issue, it's simply a matter of the bird population not being able to meet demand.”
