Egg and chicken prices on the rise

BUSINESS NEWS - Eggs and chicken are still way more expensive than only a few months ago, as anyone pushing a shopping trolley through the aisles of their local supermarket will know.

Not long ago, the cheapest eggs were in the region of R14 for a pack of six. The cheapest price now is in the mid R20s.

Chicken used to be the cheapest protein; a shopper with a keen eye could get fresh chicken for less than R60 per kilogram two years ago. It is now difficult to find it for less than R85 per kilogram.

Indeed, Statistics SA wrote in an analysis of the latest inflation figures that poultry and egg prices “continue to heat up”.

“Food and non-alcoholic beverages sub-categories that registered a rise in inflation in December include meat, milk, eggs and cheese, fish, fruit and the miscellaneous sub-category referred to as ‘other’ food.

“Annual meat inflation ticked up to 3.9% in December from 3.5% in November. Sharp annual price increases continue to haunt poultry products, such as chicken giblets (up 18.5%), fresh chicken portions (up 14.6%), non-individually quick frozen portions (up 8.8%), whole chickens (up 8.4%) and individually quick frozen chicken portions (up 6.4%).

“The milk, eggs and cheese price index increased by 14,5% in the 12 months to December, higher than November’s rate of 13.9%,” according to Stats SA.

The statisticians specifically mentioned that the increase in the price of eggs was to blame, with Stats SA’s average price for different sizes of eggs increasing by around 40% compared to a year ago.

“The 12-month increase in egg prices was 38%, slightly lower than November’s print of 39.9%,” it says.

A look at the list of prices as surveyed monthly by Stats SA and available for download on its website shows that the price of eggs has increased a bit year after year.

At the beginning of 2017, six eggs were priced below R15; at the end of 2017, the price rose to just above R16. It ran up to more than R17 for a few months but still ended 2019 at R16 for a carton.

Price of six eggs