Bad egg conundrum: Empty pantries, hungry stomachs and the blame game
Once a source of low-cost protein, eggs have steadily become dearer and the ones who need it the most are being priced out
As the price of eggs in the market continues to float up, mimicking the behaviour of an egg gone bad, the government has sprung into action by setting a maximum price ceiling.
At a meeting today, SM Rezaul Karim, fisheries and livestock minister, said the price of eggs cannot be more than Tk12 per piece.
Currently, the price is around Tk14-Tk15.
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Pointing out the discrepancies, Karim said the cost of production was estimated at around Tk10.5 per egg, hence it could be sold at Tk12 at the retail level.
He also warned of strict action if retailers sell eggs beyond this threshold.
The recent hike in egg prices even prompted Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi to resort to an implicit warning: control the prices or there will be imports.
He had said the same in August of last year, when the price of per egg rose from Tk9.5 to around Tk12.5.
Coming down hard on "opportunists traders", he said at the time that the traders were taking advantage of the volatile trading market and the prices did not reflect the real scenario.
Speaking at an event today, he again warned that eggs would be imported if the prices could not be controlled.
Once a source of low-cost protein, eggs have steadily become dearer and the ones who need it the most are being priced out.
This is worsened by spiralling prices of other goods and services. When chicken and beef have already been left out of the menus of many low-income earners, it seems eggs will go the same way.
An emptying pantry
The hike in the price of eggs – an ongoing phenomenon – reached new heights in the last week.
It was Tk90 a dozen only in June last year, whereas the same costs Tk170-Tk175 in the market today.
This is a hike from a week ago, when a dozen eggs cost Tk140-Tk145.
Helena Begum, a resident of Mohammadpur who earns a living by working as a househelp in different homes, said she could at most make around Tk10,000 per month.
"This money goes towards my family expenditure. I have two sons and they will tell you that the last time we had beef was after the Qurbani Eid. Egg curry was a lifesaver on most days, but even that is hard to afford these days," she said.
Manik Mia, who has a food cart in the capital's Sat Masjid road, has also been hit by the prices of eggs.
His stall sells khichuri, rice and egg curry, alongside some vegetables. His patrons are mostly rickshaw-pullers looking for a quick, warm meal.
"I could easily sell plates of khichuri and eggs for only around Tk25-30. Now, I have had to raise my prices to almost Tk50. This means that less customers are coming in and I'm no longer making as much money as before," he lamented.
The per capita consumption of eggs in Bangladesh crossed the minimum threshold set by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations in 2020, as each Bangladeshi on average began consuming 104.23 eggs a year, more than the FAO's minimum of 104 eggs per year.
Data also showed that Bangladesh had reached self-sufficiency in egg production, with the potential to even export the commodities.
But only three years later, the situation has reversed.
As Manik spoke about his business woes, Jishan, a rickshaw-puller, stopped eating mid-meal and asked a question aloud.
"Who is making all this money off of eggs?" he asked, before returning to his meal of rice, lentils and bhorta.
Where is the rot?
The Eggs Benedict, a common American breakfast, is a complicated and time-consuming dish to make. It consists of two halves of an English muffin, each with a helping of cured meat, a poached egg and hollandaise sauce.
Individually all the ingredients are easy to whip up. But putting them together is where the difficulty arises.
The current Bangladesh egg market is similar to the preparation for an Egg benedict – easy enough on the surface, but the murkier it gets when trying to match all the components together.
Although no one has been able to accurately isolate the source of the rot, the commerce minister has often said it was the traders who were looking for a profit.
Wholesalers and industry insiders, however, say it has more to do with high demand and low supply.
As people substitute pricier food sources, eggs have become the best replacement. At the same time, this has prompted a higher demand for eggs.
Shafiqul Islam, a wholesaler of eggs near Dhaka's Beribadh area, said that the supply was far below the demand.
"The situation was under control as most of the hotels and restaurants were closed during the pandemic. Otherwise the price would have increased earlier," he added.
While government estimates put egg production at over six crore per day, the Bangladesh Poultry Industries Central Council (BIPCC) puts it at around four crore.
The BIPCC also estimates demand to be Tk100-104 per head annually. The government's demand figures could not be known.
Amid raging prices last year, the government intensified market monitoring, resulting in a fall in prices.
Eggs, which were being sold for Tk155-Tk160 per dozen, saw their prices dip to Tk120-130.
The Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection (DNCRP) also observed that the wholesalers were destabilising the egg market by setting higher prices through phone calls and text messages, capitalising on the rise in fuel prices.
At an event in August last year, AHM Shafiquzzaman, director general (additional secretary) of the DNCRP, said, "The cost of transportation per egg should increase by Tk0.3-0.4 due to increase in fuel prices. But traders increased the price by Tk2.70 per egg. Egg traders' associations destabilise the market across the country by fixing prices on phones."
The next day, the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) urged the government to take punitive measures against the egg price manipulators.
Taher Ahmed Siddiqui, president of Bangladesh Egg Producers' Association, however, said the raise was due to egg traders in certain areas of the city and the association was helpless in this regard.
