Australia’s shoppers bought a record number of eggs from supermarkets in December last year, according to grocery scan data from IRi.
The total of 239 million eggs bought – averaging 7.7 million a day – was an increase of 7.9 per cent on the same period last year, involving national spending of $83.8 million, which was $6.3 million more than for December 2015.
“While eggs are always popular over Christmas, this growth is representative of a trend towards greater overall consumption of eggs in Australia,” Australian Egg Corporation Managing Director Rowan McMonnies said.
Cage-egg sales were up 4.4 per cent, with barn eggs up 1.3 per cent and free range continuing to grow, up 12.7 per cent.
IRi’s data is further good news for the egg industry following last month’s Australian Government export agreement with South Korea, which is designed to alleviate an egg shortage resulting from a bird-flu outbreak in the East Asian country, and as much as $20 million worth of Australian eggs could be exported this year.