The last days, the price of eggs in the market has literally exploded. A single egg now costs 20 DA, 22 DA, even 25 DA. As for the tray of 30 eggs, count more than 600 dinars to buy it. Thus, this staple of the Algerian diet, which was once “the protein source of the poor”, is on its way to becoming, like red meat, a luxury product.
Faced with this situation, to put it mildly, disturbing, especially with the month of Ramadan which is fast approaching, the dialogue between producers and consumers is broken. The former explains this unprecedented increase with increasing prices of poultry feed in the global market; but the latter do not hear it so, and calls for a boycott to “condemn speculation” are increasing on social networks…
Poultry farmers cite the increase in the price of poultry feed on the international market
The eggs now cost 22 DA each, 625 DA the tray!
In a statement to El Khabar newspaper, National Federation of Poultry Farmers spokesman Djeloul Boudaoud attributed the increase in egg prices to the fact that the price of poultry feed has almost doubled on the international market these last weeks. An increase that brought the price of the egg tray on the wholesale market to 570 DA.
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D. Boudaoud said that the prices of different types of poultry feed went from 3500 dinars per quintal in 2021 to 7500 DA, even 8000 dinars per lately. This has seriously injured breeders and forced the smallest among them to stop their activity. The number of laying hens in Algeria has thus decreased from almost 40 million in 2019 to around 8 million currently. In addition, especially diseases bird fluwhich requires the imposition of a crawl space of up to six months.
But the spokesman for the Poultry Breeders’ Association wanted to be reassuring for the future. He actually claims that egg prices would drop with the advent of Ramadan to 15 DA or 17 DA per. He points out that the egg-laying hens that breeders are currently installing in poultry houses will go into production in about 4 months. This, he said, will ensure the availability of eggs in sufficient quantities to bring prices down to a reasonable threshold. D. Boudaoud adds that chicken intended for human consumption only needs 40 days to reach maturity, which explains the stability of its price on the market.
Consumer associations led by Apoce are calling for a boycott
Egg boycott campaign with the Arabic hashtag #Nachtezpaslesoeufs.
However, these arguments do not seem to convince citizens and consumer protection associations. Thus, several Facebook pages, national and regional, have decided to launch a comprehensive egg boycott campaign with the hashtag #n’achetezpaslesoeufs (in Arabic #لا_تشتروا_البيض).
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A call that echoed in the Association for consumer protection and guidance, Apoce. She said this evening, via a post on her official Facebook page, that she supported the boycott campaign. “Apoce announces its full support for boycott campaigns that some have launched on social networks”, we can read in the press release. L’Apoce adds: “The boycott is the consumer’s weapon to change reality and condemn situations that are harmful to their purchasing power”.
For his part, the chairman of Apoce believes that the upward curve taken by egg prices is becoming a “very worrying” phenomenon, as there is no measure in sight to guarantee the product’s availability and price stability. Mustapha Zebdi concluded his speech by urging players in the poultry sector to “find solutions as soon as possible” because the month of Ramadan, a period when the demand for eggs increases, is fast approaching.
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