The All Ceylon Bakery Owners’ Association has called upon President Ranil Wickremesinghe in writing yesterday not to allow the All-island Egg Producers’ Association to sell eggs at exorbitant prices to consumers, said the Bakery Owners’ Association’s Chairman N.K. Jayawardena.
The All Ceylon Bakery Association Members have sought President Wickremesinghe’s intervention to import eggs from India. He added that they called upon the Government to take steps to ensure that the consumers can buy eggs between Rs. 18 to Rs 20.
They said that eggs have become a primary source of protein for the public owing to the fact that fish and chicken prices have shot up.
“Eggs have become one of the main lines of defence against malnutrition in children, and it will be a sin to put that in the hands of the Egg Producers’ Association, which has increased prices to an unaffordable Rs 60 and Rs 70,” he said. He said although the Government has said that the price of an egg should be about Rs. 43 for a white egg and Rs. 45 for a brown egg, there was no indication that the egg producers would reduce the prices.
The supermarket shelves now have Rs. 70 per-egg cartons, he said.
The Sunday Observer said that egg producers have problems feeding their poultry stocks due to higher animal feed costs. Jayawardena said, “Even with all their problems, they can still sell an egg at Rs 30 (retail) and yet make profits”.
He said that their Association watched the egg producers closely and were disappointed with them for trying to take undue advantage of the consumers.
He said, “That is why we made a written request on Friday from the Consumer Affairs Authority to monitor the prices of eggs sold in the market and to take legal action against those selling eggs at prices higher than the prices set by the Government.”
“We requested President Wickremesinghe’s intervention to import eggs from India after considering the malnutrition concerns in the country. We feel that increasing egg prices can lead to serious nutritional complications in the long run. We expect the Government to take action on behalf of the people suffering from the scarcity of food and lack of nutrients, especially protein in their diet,” he said.
Our efforts to contact the Chairman of the All-island Egg Producers’ Association, S. Attanayaka failed.
According to reports, the egg producers will reduce the egg prices from Rs 65 to 60, whereas the Government has set the price ceiling of an egg at Rs. 45.