Supermarkets are blaming bird flu while they "squeeze British farms out of business", a Welsh egg producer has said. Ioan Humphreys, who has 32,000 birds on his farm in Talerdding in Powys said the paltry price he's getting paid for his eggs means he's "going into debt feeding the nation".
Meanwhile, Country Fresh Eggs in Newport, south Wales, is struggling to meet consumer demand as it literally has to wait for the hens to lay eggs every morning before it can deliver them to shelves across Cardiff and Newport. Owner Victoria Shevington-Jones said feed prices had "gone through the roof" and packaging prices are "ridiculous": "People are not restocking their shed because they just can't afford it," she said.
The overall result is a massive shortage of eggs across Wales and the UK. A three million shortfall every single day to be precise. And that shortfall is only set to increase as we head into winter with eight million fewer hens ordered for next year's flocks when compared to last. The supermarkets have even started importing eggs from Italy to meet the gap in supply.
