The price of medium sized eggs is rising faster than larger sized eggs, a new report has found.
According to new research by price intelligence company Skuuudle, a box of six medium eggs has risen by 14% while the same number of large eggs has risen by only 5% over the past five months.
With some supermarkets rationing eggs and reports of prices of certain brands rising by up to 50% due to avian flu, energy costs and supply chain issues, this data means that consumers can find the best value buying larger egg sizes.
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Avian flu has disrupted the supply chain of some egg ranges over recent months, tightening supply of the most popular products and pushing the price up of sizes most in demand.
In the analysis of egg prices in the UK by Skuuudle, 120 products sold across the seven major supermarkets have been tracked over a five month period up until 5th December 2022.
With fresh food price inflation rising to 14.3% for the 12 months until November 2022, shoppers are being advised to buy big if they want to avoid further price hikes on eggs this winter.
The data also revealed that less popular egg products including the very large size and larger quantities of eggs rose by between 5%-7%, whereas the more popular boxes of six large or medium eggs rose by higher percentages.
A Skuuudle spokesman said that retailers have a “balancing act” to perform when it comes to pricing, having to consider the needs of the customer, their suppliers and the supply chain.
He said: “Egg shortages have been in the news recently with some supermarkets going as far as rationing the number individual customers can take home.
“These have largely been driven by supply chain issues which have also had an impact on the prices supermarkets are paying to their suppliers.
“What is interesting is how supermarkets are choosing to pass these increased costs onto ordinary consumers.
“Our data reveals that it’s the prices of the high volume products which are rising at the highest rate while variants such as very large eggs, are in effect becoming cheaper compared to medium-sized ones.
“By choosing very large eggs shoppers can avoid some of the price hike although as the cost of very large eggs is higher,” he added.
The news comes as the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is considering relaxing free-range egg rules to help UK farmers struggling amid the avian flu outbreak.
