Eggs, for most of modern supermarket history, have occupied the same mental category as salt or bin bags – things you buy absent-mindedly, rarely linger over and almost never covet.
Which makes the recent reports of shoppers discreetly transferring “posh” eggs into cheaper cartons less a petty crime story than a curious cultural shift. Somewhere between the rise of heritage breeds, rich yolks and artfully pastoral packaging, the humble egg appears to have undergone an unexpected promotion: from kitchen staple to small, brown status symbol.
