Greenfield Guilty of Lagging Behind Others on Egg Price

IFA Poultry chair Nigel Sweetnam has accused egg packer Greenfield of lagging behind others when it comes to price.

“We have been flooded with calls from outraged producers following last week’s announcement of the expansion plans of Greenfield. Producers are angry and frustrated at the inflexibility of the packer,” he said.

Producers are particularly incensed by the packer’s failure to acknowledge the increased costs borne by producers. Any expansion cannot be at the expense of producers who have campaigned for two years to get a price that takes account of higher costs.

Nigel Sweeetnam said while other major players such as Annalitten Foods, Nest Box Eggs, and Bellview have already met their producers’ demands months ago, Greenfield Foods appears to be outrightly refusing to do the same. As Ireland’s largest suppliers of eggs, it is unacceptable that they are paying one of the lowest prices in the country to their producers. This is a matter for the Food Regulator to investigate and ensure fair practices within the industry.

“At a time when retail, processing, and wholesale markets are flourishing, returning an additional three cents per dozen (€0.0025 per egg) to producers should be a simple task, especially since it has already been secured from retailers,” he said.

“They are demanding that the remaining three cents per dozen is passed back for February eggs to fulfil the full original request, which all other egg producers have already received.”