Supermarkets 'ripping off customers on eggs', claim farmers

Daily Telegraph -- Farmers have accused supermarkets of ripping off customers by putting up egg prices much more than they need to.

Supermarkets and packers have taken 71p of a 83p rise in the price of a dozen eggs since May last year, according to the Egg Producers' Association (EPA).

Meanwhile farmers have only seen the price paid for their eggs rise by 12p to 77p a dozen, David Spackman of the EPA said.

That is barely enough to cover the increased cost of production, he claimed.

He said: "They are squeezing the prices paid to producers while increasing their own profits on every box of eggs.

"Producers have faced very large increases in their costs. Feed alone, which is mainly cereals, is up by 62 per cent in a year.

"If the supermarkets were really protecting shoppers, they would have reduced the amount of money they are taking and still be able to pay farmers more."