‘Made-in-Canada system’ keeps egg supply stable. But is it also keeping prices high?
Canada’s egg industry appears to be quietly sidestepping widespread shortages and wildly spiking prices affecting other countries, and some say supply management is to thank.
“It’s keeping family farms alive and eggs on store shelves at a time when we’re seeing shortages around the world.”Avian influenza, or bird flu, labour shortages, supply chain issues and soaring feed, fuel and packaging costs have all affected egg production and processing costs in Canada over the past year.
In states like Arizona, California, Nevada and Florida, the cost of a carton of eggs exceeded US$6 a dozen or about $8 Canadian in recent weeks. Stores in some regions have even rationed eggs to avoid empty shelves amid supply chain issues and possible shortages. But critics say prices in Canada haven’t soared as drastically as in other countries for the simple reason that prices were already high to begin with.
“We don’t set the retail price at all,” Egg Farmers of Canada CEO Tim Lambert said. “We get paid based on our costs of production. We’re seeing grain prices ease up right now, and so our barn gate price is decreasing.” The average egg farm in Canada has about 25,000 laying hens. In contrast, the average farm in the U.S. has about two million birds, Lambert said.Cal-Maine Foods, the largest producer and distributor of shell eggs in the U.S., is traded on the Nasdaq with a total flock of about 42 million layers. Its share price has soared 45 per cent over the past year.
In Canada, about 1.6 million laying hens were affected by bird flu, or about six per cent of Canadian production, she said. They say the advantages don’t outweigh the downsides of higher prices for consumers over the long run.
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