Warmer weather and the approach of summer have taken off some of the pressure on egg supplies.
As a result, wholesale prices have eased on both colony and free range eggs, although the two sectors are currently subject to different market dynamics.
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Colony eggs have shown the greater decline. Although supplies of UK colony eggs are very tight, the market is being undermined by rising volumes of imports, still notably from Ukraine, leading to lower prices. These eggs are moving into traditional wholesale and foodservice markets.
Free range eggs are also in high demand, but for now the retail market in particular has started to enter its usual summer lull.
At the Central Egg Agency, prices for Medium and Large colony eggs are down by 47p/ doz from their peak level in the Spring. For free range, the same two sizes have dropped by 25p.
Retail has slowed
“It feels as though retails have slowed a bit. We’ve had a little bit more free range on offer,” said Andy Crossland at CEA.
“UK wholesalers are struggling a bit against the Ukrainian importers and agents, so it’s pretty tough out there at the moment. The importers have really dictated the price on the colony market.”
“Talking to the guys in London, it’s a difficult situation. They are having to buy a couple of weeks in advance on a falling market, so they’re left with the egg that they’ve paid more for than they can actually get for it.”
Colony production
”There’s not a great deal of UK colony around, for obvious reasons, with the majority still in retail and food service for the moment.”
It was a case of waiting for sufficient free-range and barn to take its place, said Mr Crossland.
Currently, the contraction of colony production is running ahead of the expansion of free range and barn production. Day-old pullet placements in the UK for all systems were down 11% in April, compared with a year earlier, according to latest Defra figures.
In the first four months of this year, total day-old placings were down by 2.6% on 2025; while in the nine months since last July, cumulative placements have dropped by 1.1m, or 3.7% overall, compared with the same period a year earlier.
This indicates that the UK laying flock is currently in decline after peaking in March, and is set to continue doing so until September at the earliest.
