Egg prices rise as farmers buckle under yoke

Bakers, farmers and egg retailers are in a wait-and-see mode to gauge how a hike in the price of table eggs, which took effect on Monday, will affect their business operations.

Doreen Hibbert, manager of the Jamaica Egg Farmers Association, told The Gleaner on Tuesday that consumers will see a price adjustment of five per cent for a flat of eggs and 12.5 per cent for branded eggs per dozen. A flat consists of 30 eggs.

Previously, a dozen eggs were sold for $380 while branded eggs were sold for $400 per dozen.

But based on the increase in operational costs since January, said Hibbert, farmers should sell for no less than the proposed prices.

Egg farmers have reported seven hikes in the price of feed for layers since late 2021, putting a huge strain on producers.

Increased overheads have forced many farmers to scale back operations which have already haemorrhaged revenue because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Feed prices have skyrocketed in months from $60,000 per tonne to $96,000.

Farmers are barely managing to break even, Hibbert said.

She is, however, is pressing producers not to deviate much from the recommended price in order to retain customers.

“One of the things we are mindful of is, we have consumers to think of, so we want to ensure that our consumers are still able to buy the cheapest source of protein,” she said.

Meanwhile, Gloria Gordon, an egg vendor of Eltham, St Catherine, has indicated that she may have to abandon her sole source of income because of tumbling profits.

The vendor, who sells a flat of eggs for $900, said in a Gleaner interview that she would usually buy a box of 360 eggs for $8,000 last year.

She is glum-faced about the price increase.

“If everything raise every minute, [business] can’t be profitable,” she exclaimed.

In a similar state of worry, business owner of Cakes You Like Ja, Kadine Gayle, said it has been very difficult to source reasonably priced eggs for production.

She has gone as far as Clarendon to hunt bargains but sometimes suffers spoilage during the long journey back home in Eltham View.

Having to heavily rely on retailers, Gayle is worried that she may not be able to afford the newly increased commodity.

Gayle said that the COVID-19 pandemic had a negative effect on her operations.

She indicated that in order to stay profitable, she would have to increase the price of her pastry – news that hasn’t been well received by customers.

“Even though they understand that things raise … them feel like say you nuh supposed to raise your price, and they don’t understand say everybody buy the same thing. So nobody want to pay,” Gayle said.

In efforts to stay afloat, Gayle is in the process of remodelling her business in order to fashion solutions to match the pockets of customers.

“So we, too, have to go out and try to find out all of the new prices,” she said. “We just have to try and get it anywhere we can.”

asha.wilks@gleanerjm.com