Coronavirus: Demand for eggs spikes as consumers stock up pantries

Madelaine Scott’s organic egg farm at Bolinda has been inundated with orders as customers stock up on staples, but the industry body says supply will be steady.

Record demand: Madelaine Scott from Madelaine’s Eggs at Bolinda with one-year-old daughter Thora. She says farmgate sales have increased tenfold. Picture: Zoe Phillips

DEMAND for eggs and limited supply on supermarket shelves has kept Madelaine Scott’s organic free-range hens very busy.

So busy in fact that her Madelaine’s Eggs farm gate shop in Bolinda completely sold out on Saturday.

“Any time I put any eggs out at my farm gate stall they sell out within an hour or so,” Ms Scott said.

She is now down to selling as the chickens lay, with more orders coming in from shops, family and new customers every day.

“The farm gate store is the main one taking up my time. Normally I get five to 10 people a day coming in, now I’m getting more like 50 to 60 a day wanting eggs,” she said.

“They’re a long-life product and I think it’s because no one is really eating out anymore, so they’re at home wanting that staple food.”

Being an organic egg farmer means it would take her about eight months to build her flock to meet the extra demand, but Ms Scott said she was confident she would have enough eggs to go round.

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“I’ve got chickens due to start laying after Easter, so I should be able to start filling the demand if people can wait one month.”

Meanwhile, the industry’s peak body has reassured customers there will be plenty of eggs to go around during the health crisis.

“We’re confident of maintaining steady supply through autumn and winter and there will be eggs readily available when the short-term stockpiling and panic buying stops,” Australian Eggs’ managing director Rowan McMonnies said.