When you measure per gram of goodness and compare it to other commodity items right now, eggs remain an affordable choice. Compared to $3.80 for a hash brown, $6 for a cup of coffee, or $1.30 for 100 grams of butter, a free-range egg for between 60 and 80 cents is excellent value.
Better Eggs is a fourth-generation egg producer based in Putaruru, and they believe it won’t be too long before the market is in balance.
“Like other commodities, eggs are subject to traditional demand and supply forces. Right now, summer is the highest point of demand across the year and there are lower supply levels due to the exit of caged birds,” said Better Eggs.
Then you have to factor in the unsustainably low base price created due to a significant oversupply between 2020 and 2021, when the number of laying hens peaked at 4.2 million. The country currently sits at 3.4 million when, in Better Eggs’ view, the optimal number is around 3.8 million.
“Today’s discussions are more around the certainty of supply. When looking at price, people are comparing it to a low base given the low prices when the market was in significant surplus before the current shortage. Per grams of goodness, eggs remain an affordable choice.”
Supply expansion is a long process - getting land, and resource consent takes time. Better Eggs has been putting additional birds on for the last two years and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.
One of Better Eggs’ most recent expansions was its Forest Free Range project. Hens spend their days exploring a forest of manuka, oak, pine, redwood and other native trees before retreating to a dry barn to rest and lay.
This innovative method has only been met with positive feedback - visitors to the forest are always positively overwhelmed by what they see.
Given the shortage, it's not just Better Eggs’ that are in high demand; it is all eggs; colony, cage-free, barn, and free-range. As the market settles, the business still expects the Heyden Farms free-range and Henergy SPCA-certified cage-free barn eggs to be popular.
Regardless, Better Eggs will continue to innovate, navigate market changes, and provide consumers with quality eggs.
