New supermarket trend emerging to help families tackle ongoing problem

A man has shared desperate scenes of what he sees every time he goes grocery shopping. Sadly, many of us are guilty.

Cassidy Pearce

2 min read

April 4, 2025 - 12:23PM

Lifestyle

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After so many months of empty shelves, lets just say Aussies are well and truly sick of the egg shortage.

What started as a bird flu outbreak last year has become an ongoing issue, which could see eggs in low supply for as long as 6 years.

However, with shoppers now desperate to stock up for themselves and their families, they’ve come up with a new strategy - though not everyone is happy about it.

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Image: Richard Walker, Supplied.

“People just run towards the eggs section!”

An Aussie shopper has taken to Reddit after noticing that people have taken up COVID methods in order to get their hands on some eggs.

“I’ve always wondered why and how I could never find eggs at the Aldi store in CBD in the afternoon. That’s why I decided to go to the store when it opens (8:30 am) and I was simply flabbergasted,” he said.

“Turns out people just run towards the eggs section the moment [the store] opens and get as much as they want leaving none for the shoppers coming later.”

The man also noted that he spotted a woman well and truly stocking up, grabbing multiple cartons on her way out of the store - as at ALDI, there are no restrictions on what you can buy.

“You have to be a morning person”

A number of commenters on the post thought the idea was genius.

“So I guess you could say people scrambled to get them,” one commenter joked.

“Yep you have to be a morning person for those eggs,” said another.

“Eggs are scarce”

But, the post also caused some debate on whether stores should have restrictions on how many eggs you can buy, for those who can’t line up at the crack of dawn for

The debate was, however, quickly shut down after it was pointed out that many business owners are also having to buy eggs at supermarkets.

“We can't get enough eggs from our suppliers, and that's across three different companies. Eggs are scarce,” said one business owner in the comments.

“Lots of wholesalers are putting/getting limits put on how much they can order. I just had to work out what the egg usage will be for the next 8 weeks because our supplier is capped for the next four. So if we don’t order now then we will get limited in the future,” another agreed.

There are ways!

So, if you’re struggling without your eggs in the morning, commenters had a few more ideas.

“Here's a tip, try going to your local butcher to get eggs. They get them direct from farms and have better supply than the supermarkets at the moment,” one person suggested.

“Yep, or a green grocer. My local Coles never has eggs. Been that way for about a year. No exaggeration, zero eggs, no matter what time of day. They may as well just stop pretending. The greengrocer in the same mall has a pile of them, from multiple farms, all the time,” said another.

“Order groceries online and have them delivered, I always get eggs this way and don't have to fight for them,” a third person said.

Otherwise, getting to the store first thing might be the way to go.