Egg lovers across the island will have to make-do for a couple of weeks as it has been revealed that the nation is presently in the midst of an egg shortage.
President of the Layers Association, Emanuel Peters, pointed to the disruption in the feed supply for the chicks as the reason behind the drop in production. This disruption, he explained was due to the Covid pandemic.
“Our natural process of plant production starts around March, April when we get young chicks, and normally around September, October, November is when the chicks would start to lay, but what happened this year because of Covid and the season starting early since in August, we have hotels being filled here, which is unusual for our timing. So, it puts a little bit of strain on the early part of the season as our young birds have just begun to lay,” Peters explained.
Residents will however be able to breathe a sigh of relief as Peters revealed this shortage will only last for a few weeks. Because of that timeline, Peters assured the public that there is no need to worry or hoard eggs at home.
“In a number of weeks, it shall be under control because when our birds start to peak late it will balance off the egg shortage. We will be back into the same routine of the normal timing. It is not a severe shortage. It is a fall short, so if this business may require 10 cases, we may be only able to give you eight. Just a lesser amount of what you are accustomed to get at any particular day or particular time,” Peters said.
“There is no panic situation. If you are going to the supermarket, you may not see any eggs on the shelf, but by the time you go and come again, there will eggs on the shelf. It is not an alarming thing that you have to go and have to be worried about ‘Oh Lord, it’s Christmas season and there are not going to be any eggs’. In a number of two to three weeks, this shortfall will definitely be filled and everybody will be able to get what exactly they want,” he concluded.