Their concerns are legitimate. However, they are struggling to be heard, as everyday life is kidnapped by the multiple issues linked to the Covid-19 pandemic. In the sheds of chicken breeders, however, the situation is becoming critical. Faced with an increase of more than 30% in the cost of feeding poultry, the egg industry is suffocating. For several weeks, its officials have been trying to raise their voices to put pressure on supermarkets, with whom the annual price negotiations are to last until February. In vain. “Their weight is enormous. They are only five to decide the purchase price ”. And therefore the daily life of hundreds of thousands of French breeders.
Eric Guellaff is a breeder in Condé-sur-Vire, in Normandy. His farm brings together 200 dairy cows, 200 hectares of land and above all 30,000 hens raised in aviaries. Each week, the Norman breeder spends 26 tonnes of food to feed his hens. But since October, the price of the grain cakes and wheat he buys has soared: + 32.5% from October to December, according to figures from the Union of Brittany Meat Producers’ Group . In one figure, the one who chairs the egg section sums up the urgency: “Food is 60 to 70% of the cost of eggs when they leave the farm. It is colossal. Large-scale distribution must take this into account when negotiating purchase prices, ”continues Eric Guellaff.
#Blue Monday
+ 16% production cost not reflected in the price of eggs, #France actually wants #Eggs CODE 3 or import to justify a low price for the consumer cf @CarrefourFrance @GroupCarrefour @FCDfrance @ Dauvers70 @ServiceInfoCNPO @J_Denormandie pic.twitter.com/nSF9jYUOXx– Those who make the eggs (@cquifontoeufs) January 18, 2021
Its interprofession is not the only one to worry. In a press release, the National Union of Poultry Labels of France testifies to “the exponential and unprecedented increase in the production costs of farmers of broilers and laying hens”, even referring to “historic levels”. This inflation affects the organic sector even more strongly, where the weight of food in the cost of production is even higher. Even though farmers with organic farming labels are struggling to sell their eggs.
“It’s as if everything was forgotten”
Two years after being praised for having fed France during confinements, farmers are questioning the sincerity of the purchasing centers with which they deal. “It’s as if everything has been forgotten. However, 2020 was an exceptional year for mass distribution. They are good at promoting their relationship with breeders. But in fact, we always fall back into the price war, ”regrets Eric Guellaff.
As misfortune never comes alone, the profession must also face two other major issues. Europe’s leading egg producer, France must confine a large part of its poultry in the face of the threat of avian flu. It must also adapt to the ban on crushing male chicks. Since January 1, this elimination has been prohibited, obliging all hen hatcheries to install machines to detect the sex of chicks incubating in the egg. An innovation that comes at a cost for farmers.
According to the National Union of Poultry Labels of France, the price paid for the box of six eggs should increase by twelve euro cents (thirty cents for the organic sector) to allow producers to continue to live from their profession. . Will large-scale distribution accept it?