Plenty of eggs, just a demand spike

With the availability of food supplies under scrutiny amidst the escalating demand amongst Australians during thus unpredictable time resulting from the coronavirus pandemic, Australian Eggs has moved to reassure Australians about the country’s steady egg supply now and into the future.

There has currently been no impact on egg production or supply, according to Australian Eggs’ Managing Director, Rowan McMonnies, who is reminding people that Australia is a food secure nation.

“Australia’s 21 million hens are still laying eggs and farmers are working around the clock to get those eggs to their customers,” McMonnies said.

“We’re confident of maintaining steady supply through autumn and winter, and there will be eggs readily available when the short-term stockpiling and panic buying stops.

“Of course, egg farmers are concerned about the potential impact of coronavirus on their staff and wider supply chains but there have been no reports of disruptions across the industry.”

The government has recognised how important it is that essential services like food industries continue to operate and the industry is working with authorities to ensure measures put in place to protect public health can still ensure a steady supply of eggs.

Individual egg farms are also reconfiguring their operations to minimise the risk that one infected employee could disrupt a whole farm.

“We have had to rethink the way we do things to provide for stricter team separation and some of the same social distancing principles that are being applied in public. These measures will go a long way to mitigating risks and underpin continuity of egg supply for Australian consumers,” McMonnies said.

Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/Naypong Studio