Cornish egg farmer says supermarkets "aren't paying enough" for their produce
There are fears many will be forced to leave the trade
Last updated 22nd Nov 2022
An egg farmer in Cornwall says that farmers are continuing to be underpaid for their produce.
As supermarkets raise their prices following increased inflation, farmers say their profits have remained the same.
Tesco is the latest supermarket to restrict the amount of eggs people can buy, with customers limited to three boxes at a time.
Earlier this month, Asda and Lidl announced that some of their stores had introduced limits.
Pete Olds from Cornhill Farm is one of the largest egg producers in the Duchy and says just how difficult starting a new trade would be:
"Those vital skillsets are very hard to come by and it takes a lot of years of experience. To just suddenly lose it overnight would be really sad.
"For us, if we run out of eggs, that's six or seven people who would then be looking for other jobs. It'd be catastrophic. It's your business, it's your life, it's all you've worked towards.
"The main reason we're short is because farmers are not being paid enough for their produce and the supermarkets have increased their prices in line with all the cost increases, but they have fed very little of that back down."
He adds: "We're really lucky down in Cornwall because there's loads of food shops, farm shops and markets we can sell into. For a larger producer, they would be losing £300,000 a year and you just cannot physically sustain that amount of loss."
Andrew Opie, Director of Food & Sustainability at the British Retail Consortium, said: "While avian flu has disrupted the supply of some egg ranges, retailers are experts at managing supply chains and are working hard to minimise impact on customers.
"Some stores have introduced temporary limits on the number of boxes customers can buy to ensure availability for everyone.
"Furthermore, retailers have long-standing, established relationships with their suppliers and know how important maintaining these are for their customers and businesses.
"Supermarkets source the vast majority of their food from the UK and know they need to pay a sustainable price to egg farmers but are constrained by how much additional cost they can pass onto consumers during a cost-of-living crisis."