What egg shortage? Producers see glut
MANILA, Philippines — Egg producers allayed fears of a possible shortage of egg supply, saying oversupply is even expected as production this year will exceed the total output in 2024.
In a chance interview at the weekend in Quezon City, Philippine Egg Board Association president Francis Uyehara said for the first quarter of 2025 alone, they see a 15 percent increase in egg production.
“We don’t have a shortage when it comes to table eggs in April or May. We are even expecting an oversupply this year as our production this year is projected to exceed the production last year,” Uyehara said.
He added that egg producers will schedule a meeting with Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. to clarify the issue.
“We don’t know who gave that information to the Secretary as we have regular meetings with him with the group of Philippine Chamber of Agriculture and Food Inc. We gave regular consultation on this issue. We don’t know the source of the information as we are also surprised about the news (on the possible egg shortage),” Uyehara said.
He warned that traders may take advantage of the situation and would implement unnecessary increases in the retail price of eggs.
Uyehara said that the farmgate price of medium sized eggs remains low between P5.60 and P6.40 per piece, adding that the retail price of eggs should not exceed P8 per piece.
Based on monitoring of the Department of Agriculture (DA) in Metro Manila markets, the retail price of medium sized eggs ranged between P7.30 and P9 per piece.
“The farmers suffered losses last summer in 2024. As a result, they decreased their production. The effect was experienced in June, July, August, September. When the retail price of eggs started to go up last year, our egg producers started to repopulate with the expected increase in demand during the holidays,” Uyehara added.
According to Uyehara, starting November 2024, the retail price of eggs has stabilized as there was already sufficient supply.
“During the months of November and December last year, there was ample supply of table eggs,” he said.
Uyehara noted that starting January this year, there has been an oversupply of eggs as the consumption abruptly