Rural Hungary

A neighbour told me that eggs are to increase by 66%!! Apparently it was on the news though I haven't heard it from any other source.

Anybody heard similar?

SteveNLisa

If thats in size, i feel sorry for the chicken

Only joking, sure is a mad idea, as alot of Hungarians keep their own chickens for eggs, surely this will just increase home production anyway and drive th prices back down

tomasc

I have not heard anything about this and considering that the prices are not regulated in EU as such (and i am not not aware of any specific "egg tax" in Hungary - but who knows what the government comes up with) then this sounds strange. There is quite a lot of over production as far as i am aware so EU wide shortage sounds unlikely.

I could be part of the campaign to undermine the regulation that is to become binding starting 2012 in EU, namely that category "3" eggs will be forbidden.

Several south and east european countries are asking for extension of the time frame (what a surprise :-( ), but considering that in north europe all the required changes have been implemented already, i doubt that it will be extended - and definitely hope that it will be implemented as accross the eu agreed. This is the least we need to do.

Obviously at least in short term it will mean increase of price for those people who today use only the cheapest ones, on the other hand, will lead to price decrease for those who have been using the more expensive ones before.

Personally i only use cat 0 so doubt that it itself has impact on me.

Rural Hungary

Thanks for the reply, informative as always :-)

I didn't think it sounded right though they were adamant the radio said the price of an egg would rise from 30ft to 50ft. Reading your post, I am now wondering if by removing cat 3 eggs, the cheapest option will now be 50ft/egg instead of 30ft/egg - that would make more sense.

I don't believe there are any markings on the ones we buy from the market though this is now probably illegal
Are cat 3 eggs from battery farmed chickens?

tomasc

Yes, cat 3 is battery cages which thanks god are going to be phased out now.

In principle all eggs should have the label like '0HUxxxx' (this would mean that it is free range). I am not sure actually if the cat 3 disappears or is it going to be replaced with the new regulation. It is on the egg itself. In shops i have never seen non-labeled once in small village as I am not sure it applies to home farming but for sure for anybody who is considered professional producer. Obviously the home farmed eggs are almost surely free range or close to it.

Sad thing is that once again some countries are simply ignoring commonly agreed requirements while some are complying (as usual) 100 % and will be punished by unfair competition http://www.guardian.co.uk/environmen...attery-hen-ban.

I am not sure about the origin of the news you heard but for sure this will impact (at least could impact) the price level.

Rural Hungary

Interesting article and non compliance by some countries will most certainly have an impact on those who are complying. Though hopefully with vigilant policing, the impact will be minimal.

We only use eggs from our neighbour or buy from the local market. The chap there sells them with no markings, he also sells unpasteurised milk and "killed 1/2 an hour ago" chickens Reminds me of the French markets I used to visit as a child - though most of them have been over regulated and lost much of their tradition and charm.