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Six days of poultry farmer protests at Aldi and Lidl in Cavan town were stood down on Wednesday morning after egg producers secured a price increase of 1.2c/egg from their egg packers.
Aldi met with IFA representatives on Tuesday afternoon and agreed to increase the price it pays for the eggs it markets “in the region of” 3c/egg or 36c/dozen, according to IFA poultry committee chair Nigel Sweetman. The 1.2c/egg rise is coming off the 3c/kg price rise from Aldi.
An IFA delegation also met with egg packers in Cavan town on Tuesday night, including Greenfield Foods, Nestbox Eggs, Annalitten Foods and Belview Eggs, in talks which apportioned the 3c/egg Aldi price increase.
Committee vice chair and Cavan egg producer Brendan Soden said the 1.2c/egg increase for producers will “feed into the system over the coming weeks.”
Lidl has not yet finalised details of its price increase, with Soden stating the protest was also stood down at its store in “good faith” with the hopes a price increase, equivalent to that of Aldi’s, is to follow from the retailer.
Delivery blockade
The IFA protest saw deliveries at Aldi and Lidl blocked for six days, leaving shop shelves empty of perishable foods including vegetables, milk and eggs.
In describing the impact on the supermarkets, Sweetman said “no farmer, no food”.
He said customers showed “great support” for the protesting farmers, with many signing petitions and providing refreshments.
The IFA had prepared to escalate protests on Wednesday, with Sweetman suggesting that 15 supermarkets could have been blockaded nationwide if the deal with the egg packers had not been struck.
Input costs
Egg producers protested after months of rising input costs, with Sweetman warning they couldn’t be “expected to produce food below the cost of production.”
Soden highlighted Teagasc analysis which showed egg producers would be making a loss of 23c/dozen eggs by Christmas, stating that a 2c/egg increase is what was required for farmers to “break even”.
The Cavan farmer warned that egg producers “are strongly considering not restocking their farms at this stage.”
He described how the cost of a laying pullet has risen from €4.60 last year to €5.85 currently and said this is set to increase to €6 after Christmas.
Soden said his electricity costs have “tripled” from 22c/unit to 66c-89c/unit, an increase of almost €4,000 over the course of the year.
He said his feed costs have also increased by 40% and that producers are facing another €20/t increase in January.
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