Flock changes leave organic egg shelves empty

Organic eggs have been scarce in shops across Estonia in recent weeks as producers replace their flocks, ERR reports. The shortage has affected both large retail chains and smaller shops, with some advising customers to come in the morning before supplies run out.

Selver communications manager Mariann Järvela said producers of organic and free-range eggs are going through a flock-replacement period, causing temporary supply problems. New hens have started laying, and normal availability is expected to return in December, she said.

Äntu Mõis, the producer of Kikerikii eggs, is short of about 80% of its production during the changeover, company board member Lauri Bobrovski said. The company has five flocks, and the interval between replacing four of them was shorter than planned. New hens had not started laying by the time the older flocks had to be sold.

Production typically falls during flock replacement, but the disruption usually happens in summer. This year it began in early autumn, when shoppers were less accustomed to shortages. Äntu Mõis supplies about half of Estonia’s domestic organic egg market, Bobrovski said, making its production shortfall especially noticeable. He expects the situation to start improving in about a month.

The company plans to build another henhouse to increase production capacity, responding to demand that currently exceeds supply. Organic egg prices may rise somewhat in November, Bobrovski said, because of increasing input costs rather than the temporary shortage. The company has fixed its electricity price for the coming winter and has grain from its own fields for feed.