Did food colouring scare boost egg sales?

A sudden tightening of the egg market at the end of last month has left packers wondering what it was all about.

In a matter of days the market turned around completely with spare egg disappearing fast and the major packers left searching for supplies. Nobody seems to have a definitive answer to why it happened but one theory is that the Sudan 1 food colouring scare led to a sudden increase in retail demand as ready-meal customers found the shelves empty or simply decided it would be safer to cook their own.

In reality, while the food scare may have played its part, it was probably a combination of factors, including some large flock depletions and the sudden snap of cold weather putting cooked breakfasts back on the table.

The intensive market has been the main beneficiary and with packers not unloading eggs onto the wholesale market prices have firmed considerably. This, however, has led to a resumption of imports, including eggs from Spain, despite the BEIC’s £250,000 campaign encouraging caterers to buy Lion quality.

While some of the gloom may have lifted from the cage egg market with improved yields on surplus cage eggs, it is being viewed as only temporary. For free range, however, there is no talk of any reversal of recent producer price cuts. A difficult summer ahead is still the consensus amongst the major packers.