Avian influenza in the United States and Europe, rising demand and soaring raw material costs have driven up the price of one of the staple products in the shopping basket
“I go through 1,200 eggs a week. So far I haven’t run short, but I have noticed the price has gone up considerably,” says Celia Clara Correira, owner of the café La Teulada in Elche, which specialises in Spanish omelette and is an ambassador for the Galician egg brand Coren. “Although my supply is guaranteed, there is a shortage because a lot of people from other countries are trying to buy eggs in Spain, which is why prices have risen so much,” she explains over the phone, praising the quality of the product she uses, owing to the strict controls it undergoes.
The egg crisis in Spain is being driven by several factors. On one hand, the price of a dozen of this basic shopping-basket product has surged 25.2% since April 2024, according to various supermarket price surveys conducted by the OCU, which analysed medium-grade (category M) eggs, weighing between 53 and 63 grams, highlighting the increase recorded in recent weeks. While the price of this category stood at between €2.07 and €2.10 in February, by 12 March it had reached €2.60, with large (L) eggs rising to €2.80 — an average increase of 15.4% compared with April of last year. For free-range eggs, according to the same source, the rise is around 20%, while for organic eggs the average increase is 7%.
On the other hand, the avian influenza outbreak affecting the United States, where millions of hens have had to be culled, together with outbreaks in several northern and central European countries, have raised alarm bells over egg shortages and the need to source supplies from other countries. “Europe is facing a shortage of this product and buyers are coming here. Italy is one of the largest producers — it uses enormous quantities of eggs to make pasta — and it has also been affected by the flu. And France has a serious problem with farm closures due to a lack of generational succession,” says César Redondo, manager of Huevos Redondo, in El Barraco (Ávila). His mid-sized farm, producing 250,000 eggs per day, supplies mainly to the Madrid foodservice sector, and he assures his customers they will not face any shortage, even though in recent weeks he has been fielding an average of 30 calls a day from potential new buyers. “A few days ago I loaded a trailer bound for the Netherlands, and before it had even left the farm the money was already in my account. That never used to happen.”
The Spanish Egg Producer Associations (Federovo and Aseprhu) have also commented on avian influenza and its impact on egg supply and demand in Europe. They confirm that, despite the tight equilibrium that had existed until now, egg supply is currently being affected by the loss of approximately 15 million birds on farms. Spain is breathing a sigh of relief, as no cases of avian disease have been reported on poultry farms this season. “Our country has been virtually free of outbreaks in recent years, largely thanks to the high level of professionalism of technicians and poultry farmers, who apply strict biosecurity measures. Poultry farms are continuously being modernised and are increasingly well-prepared to prevent the entry of infectious agents,” the association states. They highlight that demand for Spanish eggs from neighbouring European countries has increased, “as they do not have enough hens to meet their domestic consumption needs and want access to eggs produced under the guarantees of the European production model.”
This may be one of the reasons why Spanish farms are attracting increasing interest from large poultry groups — either through outright acquisition or by taking equity stakes. One such case is the Italian group EUROVO, which acquired HIBRAMER in 2012 and acquired GRANJA PINILLA in 2025. Eurovo is managed by the family of its founder, Rainieri Lionello, a businessman from the Veneto region, with production facilities and hatcheries across Italy, as well as in France, Poland, Romania and Spain. The acquisition of Hibramer in 2012 was carried out through Marcopolo Comercio, a subsidiary specialising in the production and marketing of white and brown eggs, as well as powdered and pasteurised egg products, incorporating Hibramer’s poultry complex and feed mill — a company that had previously been part of the Nueva Rumasa conglomerate. Hibramer operates eight farms distributed across the provinces of Burgos, Valladolid, Palencia and Guadalajara.
Another prominent player in the Spanish poultry business is Brazilian billionaire Ricardo Castellar de Faria — ranked 21st on the Forbes list of Brazil’s wealthiest individuals, with a fortune exceeding $3 billion. Known in his home country as the egg king, in 2006 he founded Granja Faria, Brazil’s largest egg producer. Last year he acquired the Spanish group HEVO Group, which in recent years had integrated brands such as Dagu, Ous Roig, Granja Agas and Avícola Larrabe. A flock of 3.8 million laying hens.
In addition to the influx of foreign capital, a process of consolidation is under way within the domestic industry. For example, the Navarrese group Agotzaina, founded in 1985 in Arbizu and specialising in egg-derived products, continues to expand and in 2023 acquired the Valencian company Iniciativas Agrícolas Ager, which since 2012 has focused on organic and free-range production under the flagship brand Huevos Coccó. It also joined forces with the Madrid-based Avícola Barco to acquire another major egg producer, García Puente, in Olmedo (Valladolid).
One of Mercadona’s egg suppliers is another powerful group, Huevos Guillén, founded by brothers Benjamín and Joaquín Guillén in 1984, headquartered in Paterna (Valencia) and operating 12 farms — some of them in Navarre — that produce more than five million eggs per day. “The real business in Spain is concentrated in the hands of four players, who account for the large sales volumes,” explains Redondo, who attributes this consolidation and the rise in egg prices to the hardship the sector has endured in recent years. “For us, for example, Covid was devastating, because we sell primarily through the HORECA channel (hotels, restaurants and cafés), which shut down entirely. Then the war in Ukraine caused raw material prices to rise sharply. None of that was passed on in the price. A dozen eggs is still cheap,” he states.
How is the egg price determined?
It is set between commercial operators, explain the Spanish Egg Producer Associations. Prices depend on the sales channel, presentation, egg type and the supply and demand for each at any given time, meaning there is no single egg price but rather several. In situations of supply shortfall, a communicating vessels effect occurs across the various channels, because the egg is a basic and unique foodstuff with no easy culinary substitute, nor in the numerous food industries that use it as an ingredient. This is the source of the current market price tension, as it is proving difficult to meet demand not only in Spain but also in neighbouring countries.
Why isn’t Spain producing more eggs if demand is higher?
The association states that “we are in a complicated situation when it comes to growing production.” On one hand, there is increasing retailer demand for eggs from alternative housing systems. On the other, producers are in the midst of adapting their farms to meet it. In the new cage-free systems, eggs are produced at a higher cost, but not in greater quantities. Furthermore, expanding the size and capacity of farms requires administrative permits that typically take several years to be issued, representing a significant temporary barrier to growth in Spain’s egg sector. It is essential, they continue, that public administrations consider accelerating these timelines, taking into account the contribution made by farms and egg packing centres in a country like Spain, with its vast rural areas of very low population density. These are activities that generate wealth, employment and stable economic activity — of great importance in areas with sparse populations and limited economic development.
Will Spain run out of eggs?
There may be concern about rising prices, but not about an actual shortage. The Association of Artisan Pastry and Bakery Entrepreneurs of the Community of Madrid reports that the sector is calm ahead of one of the strongest periods for egg consumption: Holy Week. More than seven million torrijas are consumed in Madrid during this period. Spain exports 20% of its annual production, primarily to other EU member states.
Key figures
The Spanish egg sector generated revenues of €2.278 billion in 2023, up 30% on the previous year, accounting for 8.2% of the total value of livestock production and 3.5% of agricultural production, according to data from Inprovo, the egg interprofessional organisation.
In 2023, Spanish farms produced 1.164 billion dozen eggs (900,000 tonnes), up 2.2% on 2022, placing Spain as the third largest producer in the European Union, with a 13.5% share of total production, behind France (14.4%) and Germany (14.1%). Castilla-La Mancha (266 million dozen) leads the regional ranking in terms of output, followed by Aragón (202 million) and Castilla y León (198 million).
In terms of consumption, eggs were the fastest-growing food product by volume in Spanish household shopping baskets in 2023. For the second consecutive year, domestic egg consumption bucked the overall decline in food consumption (-1.5%), showing a growth of 8.7%. This trend continued throughout last year, with growth of 3.2% up to November 2024, according to the latest data published by the Ministry of Agriculture.
In Spain, in 2023, total per capita household egg consumption stood at 8.68 kg, equivalent to 138 eggs (+7.0% compared with 2022). Through to November 2024, this figure was 8.95 kg, or 142 eggs per capita (+3.1% compared with 2023). Residents of Cantabria (178 eggs per year), Navarre (176) and the Basque Country (169) top the regional ranking, while those in Extremadura (104), the Balearic Islands (122) and Murcia (123) are at the bottom. Average expenditure per person was €28.
Egg consumption is rising across all EU countries, driven in part by the product’s positive image as a nutrient- and vitamin-rich protein source, as demonstrated by various studies. “Among my customers I have doctors and athletes, who I serve two egg omelette pintxos a day. Without bread, of course,” confides the owner of café La Teulada.
Source:
-. Diario EL PAIS
Further reading:
-. Egg prices skyrocket. (17 March 2025). OCU.