KUCHING: As the poultry industry in the peninsular works towards stabilising supplies to address domestic shortages, over in Sarawak, players are struggling with a slightly different issue: an apparent lack of eggs.
Although the demand for chicken meat skyrocketed during the festive seasons, most parts of the state still had sufficient supplies.
However, the same cannot be said for eggs, as wet markets and supermarkets in the bustling city of Kuching are facing a shortage of the precious commodity, leading some retailers to enforce restrictions on the number of eggs customers can purchase.
The chicken eggs have vanished from the shelves of a fresh mart, leaving the egg-lovers of the city in despair.
Although a few of these precious commodities are stored at the back, they are now reserved for those who made advanced bookings.
A worker told New Sarawak Tribune that the eggs were reserved for customers who made bookings the previous day, leaving no stock for walk-ins.
Nowadays, customers must make advanced reservations to purchase eggs due to the current shortage of supply.
“Deliveries of fresh eggs arrive like clockwork at around 11 to 12 noon every day. But, if customers fail to make reservations on time, they might have to wait until the next day to get their hands on fresh stocks.” he said.
Due to the recent supply shortages, egg prices have been increasing. The cost of one tray of Grade A eggs, which previously retailed at RM13, has now skyrocketed to about RM18.50. Meanwhile, Grade B eggs are selling for RM13.50 per tray.
A supermarket at Jalan Song is facing the same scarcity of eggs that other retailers in the city are experiencing. Only Grade A eggs are available, and they are being sold at a premium between RM18.90 and RM19.90 per tray.
To ensure that there is enough stock to go around, there is a limit on the amount of eggs that customers can purchase at any given time: just one tray.
A cashier named Joanna informed that this restriction was necessary as last week the supply quickly ran out due to some customers, particularly those who made kek lapis, a popular layer cake in the state.
“They buy up to five trays per person, and then the supply runs out,” she added.
The worker also highlighted that it was not easy to replenish egg supplies anymore, and customers would sometimes have to wait up to a week for new stocks to arrive. This is because the shortage of eggs is not only limited to Kuching but is being felt across the state.
In an interview with New Sarawak Tribune, Anthony Mendil, a prominent chicken poultry breeder from Padawan, shared his perspective on the shortage of eggs.
He attributed the problem to the recent and upcoming festive celebrations, which led to a surge in demand for chicken meat.
To meet the increased demand, Anthony explained that many breeders, including himself, had oversupplied their laying hens to the market.
“The reopening of the state border and the back-to-back festivities created a huge frenzy in the wet market, particularly for chicken meat,” he exclaimed.
“I was forced to decrease the flock size of my laying hens to meet the soaring demand,” he added with a hint of regret in his voice.
He went on to say that this had a significant impact on his supply chain for producing eggs as “with fewer hens laying eggs on the farm, it naturally means a decline in the overall quantity of eggs being produced.”
In order to ensure a steady and consistent supply of eggs, Anthony stressed the need for more hens than roosters. However, the current situation is the exact opposite.
“We’re facing a shortage of hens and a surplus of roosters, which is not good for egg production,” said Anthony. “We need more hens to reach a stable level of egg production.”
Anthony remained hopeful that once the new flocks of hens started laying, the supply of eggs would stabilise, providing some much-needed relief to the egg shortage in Sarawak.
“Once the prices of chicken and eggs are floated, that’s when I believe the egg production will bounce back and return to normal,” he said, optimistic about the future.
However, Anthony pointed out that even if the egg supply stabilised, chicken breeders still faced the challenge of skyrocketing transportation costs for imported feed, which continued to disrupt the egg production industry.
He said that although producing eggs was not difficult, it was a time-consuming process that required months of planning to coordinate a chicken hatch date from the time the chicken emerged from its egg.
“To maximise output, the egg production cycle must be effectively and efficiently managed, but there are many factors that impact egg production,” Anthony explained.
“Chickens are not machines,” exclaimed Anthony with a chuckle.
“A hen can lay an egg a day, but there will be days when it takes a break. You have to be patient when dealing with them, it’s not a factory that can be controlled.”
He added, “Feeding hens more does not necessarily increase production or recover production in a day. It takes time and effort to maintain a consistent level of egg production.”
The farmer also highlighted that the wet season could negatively impact egg production in hens. “The weather plays a big role in the production of eggs, and the rainy season is no exception,” he said with a tinge of concern in his voice.
Every day, Malaysians consume a whopping 27 million to 28 million eggs, with the majority being grades A, B, and C, while Omega eggs only make up a mere 10 per cent. However, despite chicken only taking 30 days to raise, it takes seven months to produce eggs, which is further complicated by the sheer quantity demanded every day.
The shortage amounts to more than 96 million eggs per month, with monthly production reaching only 871.9 million eggs compared to the required 968.8 million. In 2019, Malaysia produced 10.9 billion chicken eggs, which increased to 12.9 billion in 2020.
