Egg prices have risen by up to 27% since the start of the year, The Grocer’s analysis of Assosia data has found.
Nearly a third of egg lines available at the start of the year [w/e 30 December 2023] and the week commencing 5 August have seen a rise in price across the traditional big four, discounters and Waitrose.
The highest rise was in Morrisons Savers small free-range egg six pack, which rose by 26.9%, from 78p to 99p.
This was followed by two Tesco lines: St Ewe 6 Large Free-Range Eggs and Happy Egg Co 6 Free Range Eggs Large, which rose by 25% and 21.7% respectively.
This run of recent price rises comes following a swathe of industry-wide price increases last year after on-shelf shortages drove supermarkets to increase payments to producers who were battling with higher production costs.
The previous rises had been focused predominantly on the core own-label range, but now rises can be seen in more of the high-end egg lines and value options.
”It’s a continuation of the problem that existed and was created by retailers when they broke the market back in 2022/23,” said Robert Gooch, independent agrifood consultant.
He said bringing production back up from the low point last year would take about 18 months and “it is a long process and we’ve still got a bit of a lag”.
Some of the more significant branded line rises were Happy Egg Co’s mixed weight 10-pack at Sainsbury’s, which rose by 16.9%, and Tesco and Waitrose stocked Clarence Court lines rising up to 12.5%.
One supermarket said that branded egg lines with price increases were price matched or cheaper than elsewhere and that own brand egg lines had not seen any increase.
The aforementioned Morrisons Savers line was among the cheaper lines to rise in price, alongside Asda’s Big & Fresh 10 mixed weight eggs, which increased by 14.6% to £2.75.
“Retailers work closely with thousands of poultry farmers and know how tough it has been for them over the past two years as they face price pressures including higher energy and animal feed costs,” said Andrew Opie, director of food & sustainability at the British Retail Consortium. “Despite these challenges, retailers are working with suppliers to manage prices and ensure affordability for all consumers.”
All retailers mentioned in this article were approached for comment by The Grocer.
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