In Finland, stores, egg packagers, and producers are now in disagreement, according to the Central Union of Agricultural Producers and Forest Owners (MTK), which has claimed that the cause of the occasional egg shortage observed on store shelves in recent weeks is the prices paid by Finnish stores for eggs. 5 million kilograms in 2025 compared to consumption of 68 million kilograms. The exceptional egg market situation is partly a result of the bird flu raging in Europe.
According to EU authorities, hundreds of disease outbreaks were detected on poultry farms across Europe during the winter, and in Poland, disease outbreaks in early 2025 led to the culling of millions of poultry birds. This has created a severe shortage of eggs in Europe, with prices rising to higher than normal levels. Finnish companies are now exporting their eggs more readily abroad because they are paid more there than in Finland.
The company could have earned tens of millions of euros more by increasing exports.
According to Ilta-Sanomat, Juho Niemelä, CEO of Kieku Oy, described that the company could have earned tens of millions of euros more by increasing exports. However, the trade has not agreed to pay market prices. The retail food trade is dominated by S Group and Kesko, which have shifted price responsibility to egg packagers, and S Group recently told Ilta-Sanomat that they have discussed delivery volumes and prices with egg packagers at an abnormal rhythm.
The price at the producer level is now too low. Business operations in the industry are becoming increasingly expensive in Finland, as stores have changed their responsibility policies and are phasing out eggs from enriched cage production. Stores have previously stated that changing chicken batches on the production side would partly affect availability issues.