SAY WHAT: producing an egg costs just 14 cents, supermarkets are ripping us off

We’re paying through the nose for our groceries. Enough to make you grumpy. Take a carton of eggs: these days, you pay 30 cents for one egg. An increase of no less than 30% compared with a year ago. And yes, of course, this kind of price increase applies to more products in the supermarket. But what’s bizarre is that producing an egg costs just 14 cents. So why on earth do we have to pay so much for it?!

Expensive feed

The misery starts with the price farmers now have to pay for their chickens’ feed. It has practically doubled. At the beginning of 2021, chicken farmer Alex Janssen bought it for 25 euros per 100 kilos; now he pays around 43 euros. The main cause: the war in Ukraine, Europe’s breadbasket. And those enormous feed prices really add up. Feed accounts for 60% of the total costs a farmer incurs in producing their eggs. So higher feed costs have to be passed on if the farmer is to make any money from their product.

The supermarket’s trick

But here’s the real reason we have to pay so unbelievably much for our eggs: the supermarket turns out to be the one making the most money. The big trick is that people don’t necessarily buy fewer eggs just because they’re more expensive. Supermarkets make huge profits on eggs, and poultry farmer Janssen is also highly critical of this. According to him, the 16-cent margin supermarkets take is the fundamental problem. And that’s while chicken farmers have to beg for a few extra cents.

Good news: chicken farmers are getting more for their eggs

Fortunately, there’s good news too. Farmers are being paid more for their eggs than they were a year ago. In November 2022, they received no less than 118% more than in November of the previous year. How come? The main cause is the huge outbreak of bird flu, which created an egg shortage. And anything that’s scarce is expensive—also for supermarkets.

Read also:

• 9 ways to save money even as the supermarket gets more and more expensive
• Strange eggs: can you actually eat them?
• Another handy tip for peeling eggs quickly

Source: AD