Stonegate is latest company to raise egg price

Egg packer Stonegate has joined the list of companies paying more to its free-range egg producers, giving an across-the-board increase of 7p/doz.

The move follows the 4p/doz extra it gave it’s Columbian Blacktail contracted producers earlier in March, and the 10p/doz increase awarded to its organic producers. These rises took their average prices to 100p/doz and 165p/doz respectively.

Agriculture director Richard Kempsey said the 7p/doz increase applied to all egg sizes and matched what the company had so far received in extra receipts from its customers.

He added that farm “seconds” would be paid an additional 14p/doz “to reflect what we are seeing in processor demand”.

Mr Kempsey was also keen to point out that this was not the first time Stonegate had raised prices, with some increase fed through last summer and autumn.

Whether there would be further increases to come was not certain. “It will depend on what happens with EU processors, to some extent,” he said. “It’s a wild market out there.”