Achmat Brinkhuis and his family own a chicken farm in the Western Cape and produces a large number of eggs per day. Picture and video: Tracey Adams/African News Agency
South Africans can expect to pay almost R100 for a dozen eggs as prices are sky-rocketing due to the avian flu outbreak.
Stores are forced to ration eggs and many retailers have empty egg shelves. As South Africans are turning to delivery services to get their eggs, we take a look at the prices of eggs at various online delivery services.
Checkers Sixty60
At the time of publishing, Checkers only stocks Nulaid. For a six pack of its free range eggs, expect to pay from R26 to R30. An 18 pack of Jumbo eggs costs R70 and an 18 pack for extra large eggs of the same brand costs R56.
UberEats (Under groceries section)
UberEats is not only good for fast food. Depending on what is nearby, you can also get groceries. It is worth noting that usually they cost a bit more in addition to delivery fee but the option is still there.
Happy Range eggs go from R30 to R99 for a six pack to 18 pack respectively. There are also cheaper options if there are supermarkets on the app. For these, you can expect to pay from R25.
Pick n Pay
Pick n Pay has a bigger variety for eggs.
Their cheapest eggs are the six pack Eggs for Africa Medium eggs at R20, their six pack P n P Large eggs at R23 and their six pack P n P Jumbo eggs stands at R28. The six pack Humpty Dumpty Jumbo eggs also costs R28.
For the 18 packs, prices range from R65 to R80 and for the 24 packs expect to pay around R90.
If you are looking for a 30 pack, this might give you more value for money (provided it’s not sold out), as the P n P Extra large eggs 30s costs R105.
Shoprite
At Shoprite, you can find Nulaid and Solitaire brands.
For a six pack of free range eggs, you can expect to not pay more than R30. If you are looking to buy an 18 pack, the Solitaire Large Free Range Eggs 18 Pack is R70 and the Nulaid Premium Grade 1 Free Range Large Eggs 18 pack is R75.
Woolworths
Woolworths retailers have taken to rationing their egg produce, but you may still find eggs on Woolies Dash.
Their cheapest is their Woolworths brand six pack Mixed size eggs that costs R25. Their six pack free range Large eggs costs R30 and their six pack extra large eggs stand at R40. Their six pack Free range Jumbo eggs are a bit more pricey at R48.
Chicken farmer explains why there is a scarcity of eggs
Achmat Brinkhuis and his family own a chicken farm in the Western Cape and produces a large number of eggs per day. Brinkhuis told Independent Media Group photojournalist Tracey Adams that while his farm is currently not affected by the strain, he described the havoc the virus caused.
Brinkhuis says the avian flu impacted what is called the parent stock. The parent stock refers to the birds selected and raised for the purpose of producing fertile eggs, which are then used to hatch broiler or layer chickens. Brinkhuis deals specifically with layer chickens, which are the birds that are selected for their ability to lay a large number of high-quality eggs.
“So what this bird strain flu has done is that it infected the parent stock so there are no eggs because all the birds had to be culled. A lot of farms had to kill a lot of birds, we are talking about millions of birds,” he said.
According to Brinkhuis, nearly a third of the egg production industry in South Africa has been affected, disrupting the value chain. He said the price of diesel and rise in electricity prices is also exacerbating the crisis.
He assured that the South African Poutry Association, of which he is a member, is currently in negotiation with the government regarding vaccines for this virus.
“The only thing we can do now is up our security, cleaning our houses and closing up when appropriate. As soon as we get the vaccine, we can get back on track. The consumers out there unfortunately bear the brunt of it. The feed prices also gone up because we don’t have grain due to the floods. It’s an amalgamation of things that disrupt the value chain.”
IOL