Egg shortage at Christmas? Experts warn against panic buying!

Egg shortage at Christmas? Experts warn against panic buying!

The run-up to Christmas not only creates a festive atmosphere, but also raises questions about the egg supply. In Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, consumers have to expect changes due to the current situation in the poultry industry. There are enough chicken eggs available for private and professional Christmas baking, but caution is advised. Silvia Ey, managing director of the MV poultry industry association, points out that mass culling of laying hens and production losses will pose challenges for the market. Despite these negative developments, supermarkets are not affected by empty shelves, reports nordkurier.de.

In October, over 150,000 laying hens had to be killed on various farms, resulting in a daily loss of around 150,000 eggs. In total, this results in over a million missing eggs per week and more than four million per month. The situation is further exacerbated by bird flu, which had a total of 172 cases in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania by the end of November.

On the egg market: price prospects and supply situation

The poultry industry association gives the all-clear regarding a possible egg shortage. It remains to be seen that, despite the challenges posed by the H5N1 bird flu and the loss of two important farms in Western Pomerania, no steep rise in egg prices is to be expected. On the contrary, prices are already high compared to other European countries and a stabilization is expected, reports ndr.de. European trade should also provide relief, as eggs from the Netherlands and Poland are delivered to the region.

Annual production in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania last year was 730 million eggs, only taking into account farms with more than 3,000 hens. The resumption of operations in Poseritz and Rothemühl, which are affected by bird flu, will take a few more weeks. In the meantime, new pullets have to be raised, but they only slowly start laying eggs.

Consumer tips: Avoid panic buying

Consumers are urged to remain calm and not panic buy in order to avoid empty shelves after the holidays. Silvia Ey emphasizes this emphatically. The challenges experienced by the market due to the decline in egg production are expected to persist in the long term. With this in mind, your home and kitchen should be well prepared in order to enjoy the upcoming holidays without running into shortages.

At a time when bird flu continues to spread in northern Germany, poultry farmers are also called upon to observe biosecurity measures and avoid contact between their poultry and wild birds in order to prevent further outbreaks. Information about the situation in the poultry industry is available at gefluegelwirtschaft.at, where the latest developments relating to bird flu are also documented.