By Annelia Nixon

Tribune Business Reporter

anixon@tribunemedia.net

The Government is seeking to boost domestic egg production via a buyback initiative as food stores report a tripling in import prices due to bird flu’s sharp impact on availability and the supply chain.

Neil Campbell, permanent secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture and Marine Resources, said the Government is providing birds to farmers on condition that they produce a certain number of eggs. “It’s an industry. And so we have other persons, like, for example, Essential Farms and one or two other places that we also giving 100 birds to,” he explained.

“And it’s like a buy back programme. So all of them will be responsible for raising, rearing and everything else with the birds. For example, we want 100 eggs from them a week. If they get 150 eggs, the 50 eggs they could do anything with. But we have to buy about 100, and they have to sell it at the same cost to us in order for us to sell it to the public.

“And that will be done through BAMSI (the Bahamas Agriculture and Marine Science Institute) or BAIC stations. So we’ll always have the hedge price on the chicken eggs. So we got birds in already for that programme as well. So we give it to 10 different farmers.

“Then the next side of that is where we go full blast into what we call the ‘Golden Yolk’, but all of this is a part of that because it’s going to a special purpose vehicle as you call it, where they actually are going to have it set up like with different farmers managing each house,” Mr Campbell added. 

“It will be ten houses so it will be ten farmers managing it, and then they will do likewise. They’ll have the birds, the feeding and everything else. And then it’s based on a quota where we’ll get a certain amount of eggs from them in order to sell back to Bahamians at a hedge price.

“So we have the schools involved, we have community, individuals like I said with Essential Farms, and somebody in West End and there’s two different persons in New Providence. It’s ten farmers who we’re going to give 100 birds to. And then with the schools... I think we’re giving to 20 to 30 schools this time around and they, too, will be involved with the same thing. So it’s at every angle. We’re trying everything.”

Mr Campbell added that the Ministry of Agriculture and Marine Resources is set to make two Family Islands “self-sufficient” in egg production as part of the expansion. He did not disclose which islands are being targeted, but said they are in the northern and central Bahamas.

He visited one of the locations last month and the other this past weekend, adding: “We have an agent there and then they will do the same thing where they buy from that school, and the school that would make funds from the chicken laying programme.”

Jomo Campbell, minister of agriculture and marine resources, recently said the Golden Yolk programme has experienced some delays in acquiring equipment, sourcing, getting documents and working with other government ministries. He suggested the initiative will begin in earnest by September going into the 2025 fourth quarter.

“I think a lot is going on around the world - getting equipment, sourcing specialised individuals,” Mr Campbell said. “So a lot was going on. Then we needed some sort of regulations in place, too, even down to getting permits for persons to come in. We almost working with every ministry. We’re working with Ministry of Works to get the drawings. Then we get technical persons to come in and do that.

“Then we need Immigration in order to give permits to help us with these specialised individuals. We need health, we need BAHFSA (The Bahamas Agricultural Health and Food Safety Authority) in order to make sure these persons are certified. Then we got to work with the police in order to screen these persons. We can’t let any and everybody come into the country.”

Bahamian consumers, food stores and all companies reliant on eggs for ingredients have been grappling with soaring prices resulting from bird flu-driven supply shortages in the US as chickens are culled to eradicate the virus. Several US food store chains have begun rationing the amount of eggs consumers can purchase with the US Department of Agriculture projecting a further 20 percent jump in egg prices.

Bronson Beneby, manager of Courtesy Supermarket, and Horace Miller-Major, Centreville Food Market proprietor, both said they have seen a jump in prices while buying eggs wholesale. Noting that 30 dozen eggs normally come in a case, Mr Beneby said the “increase actually started from roughly about $100 a case, and then it continued to escalate” resulting in him having been quoted $300.

Meanwhile, Mr Miller-Major said he is currently paying $260 for a case of 30 dozen eggs. Both reported selling eggs to customers for around $10.50, equalling an estimated $7 rise in price. The high cost of eggs has not only hit grocers’ pockets but also those of their customers, leading to a decrease in egg sales.

“There’s always a concern because when the prices get too high, then basically the people who could afford to buy it will buy it,” Mr Miller-Major said. “Those who can ‘t afford to buy it are relegated to buying something else. And so hence, you know, it is a concern for everybody, not just us as grocers but the consumers at large. I’ve noticed it’s trending in, you know, in the high $10-plus for a dozen eggs.

“It’s trending and what can we do? It’s a catastrophe what is happening out there with the bird flu and everything else. And that’s why we really need a farm here in The Bahamas or hatchery that produces eggs.”

Both grocers back the concept of the Golden Yolk prgramme, which aims to transform two Family Islands into hubs for the egg industry as well as involving communities, schools and local farmers. According to Mr Miller-Major, he has tried purchasing eggs from a local farmer at a cheaper rate. While it was a short-term solution, he noted that the demand became too high for the farm as they also serviced bigger-named stores.

“I think we do really need to get into our own farming of eggs because we used to have them back in the day in the 70s and 80s,” Mr Miller-Major said. “We had a lot of farms around here that produced eggs. All those were obliterated as well. The storm came in and destroyed a lot of them, and so it was very costly for them to really put them back together, but we really need it.

“Now there’s a local producer who does something on a small scale. I’ve been buying some from him, which are organic eggs grown right here in The Bahamas. But he hasn’t been able to keep up with the demand. And he said he’s servicing Solomon’s and them. And so I haven’t gotten anything from the last month. I had purchased something which was a cheaper price, and was able to sell them at a very good price, but they didn’t last too long on the shelf with that kind of price.”

Mr Beneby, stating he wouldn’t mind switching from wholesalers to farmers, added: “I mean, obviously a programme like that [Golden Yolk] would definitely help to have your eggs produced here locally. I’ve visited a few of the local farms that were actually here [in] Nassau. Several of them, from my understanding, I guess the only real challenge they really had was the cost to feed and the cost of supplies.

“Those farms, they don’t exist any more. They already closed. But years ago that’s where we used to get our eggs from. If that’s [wholesalers] the only source of getting eggs, which are being imported into the country, then you don’t really have a choice because you don’t have any more of the local farms producing eggs any more.”

Both grocers also noted that the profit margin on eggs is “minimal”, with Mr Beneby adding that he still sells them simply “for the convenience of the customer.”

“It’s a necessity for some businesses,” Mr Beneby said. “There’s people who use eggs on a daily basis... We only carry eggs just for convenience, the customers, so they wouldn’t have to go look elsewhere. Another thing is the profit margin on eggs for grocery store owners and convenience stores. It’s price controlled so it’s not a huge margin. Eggs has been price controlled for years.

“It’s just recently been increased [by] 23 percent, but eggs was 10 percent. The profit margin on a case of eggs was only 10 percent for years. The profit on eggs is really minimal. That was really the only item that had a 10 percent profit margin. You carry eggs for just for the convenience of the customer. But in terms of profit, it’s not a profitable item. Easily damaged also.

“There’s 30 dozen eggs in a case of eggs. If two of those cartons get damaged, that’s your profit right there. So a lot of people, they may not be knowledgeable about that, but that’s how it is. That’s how minimal the profit is on a case of eggs.” Mr Beneby also empathised with other businesses that are impacted by the price of eggs.

“You have businesses, bakeries and people who normally sell breakfast, they are majorly affected by the price increase because people who used to sell a 99 cent breakfast or $1.50 breakfast, now they can’t. If they use one egg now that same carton is now costing you about $3 to $5,” he added.

“The local bakeries, people who have been purchasing birthday cakes, the average birthday cake what used to cost $50 is now costing $100 and up because of the increase of the cost of eggs.”