September 27, 2007

UK food industry to pay double for eggs

The price of eggs sold to food manufacturers and caterers will increase by up to 50 percent producers have warned, The Daily Telegraph reports Wednesday (September 26).

"The dramatic increases in feed costs, coupled with a shortage of eggs for processing, have meant that we are having to pay far more for eggs. The price rises are needed to guarantee supply to all our customers in the short-to-medium term," Clive Frampton, chairman of the British Egg Products Association (Bepa) said Tuesday.

The cost of feed, which makes up around half of egg production costs, has nearly doubled in the past year.

Bepa's members make egg products for food manufacturers and large-scale caterers and their products aren't usually sold direct to consumers.