Tesco will provide a further £10 million of additional support for the UK egg sector, as the industry is seeing signs of recovery for the first time since the start of the cost-of-living crisis.
The restrictions, where customers could previously only buy three packs of eggs at a time, were introduced in November 2022 to ease pressure on a supply chain that was affected by price increases as well as the avian flu outbreak.
The move comes after Tesco’s investment of £27.5 million in the sector across 2022-2023, as part of its commitment to sourcing all of its eggs from the UK.
Tesco and its suppliers are committed to high welfare standards, and together are working towards the retailer’s aim of 100% cage free eggs by 2025.
The UK’s largest retailer is providing £6m of investment from August this year until March 2024, and the support package will be paid to suppliers to cover the cost of handling, processing and egg production, including any increases in feed for farmers.
Tesco will also continue operating its industry-leading poultry feed model. Poultry feed represents up to 70% of the cost of production on egg and poultry farms, and adjusts to price changes in the market – providing producers with the cost protection and security they need when buying feed.
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Earlier this year, the National Farmer’s Union (NFU) called for urgent action as the nationwide shortage of eggs forced supermarkets to ration supplies for customers – which lead to Italian eggs landing in British supermarkets.
Tesco commercial director for Fresh, Dominic Morrey, said: “We’re really pleased to be able to provide a further package of financial support to our UK egg suppliers and producers.
“The sector has faced some very tough conditions over the past 18 months, including increases to inputs such as feed and energy, as well as the avian flu outbreak, so we hope this support alleviates some of these challenges.
“As conditions begin to ease, we’re also able to remove the buying restrictions we’ve had in place on shell eggs since November last year.
“Customers can be reassured we also remain 100% British on all our shell eggs, with our five-year contracts with our suppliers now well underway.”
