Some British Columbia grocery stores are running short on eggs after the Christmas holiday period and posting signs telling customers that bird flu is to blame.
Daily Hive reader Cathryn John shared a photo of empty shelves at the North Vancouver Save On Foods at 333 Brooksbank Avenue on Thursday.
“Attention customers: eggs are out of stock due to avian flu,” a cardboard sign on the egg fridge read. “Sorry for the inconvenience.”
Another Daily Hive reader, Brenda Marshall, was shopping at a Save On Foods location in Vernon when she found the egg section empty except for a few liquid products.
“There was a sign posted on the display case stating that there was a shortage due to the avian flu,” Marshall told Daily Hive. “I was surprised as I had just been at another store… that had plenty of eggs.”
BC Egg Farmers’ director of communications and marketing, Amanda Brittain, confirmed the province is dealing with an egg shortage due to bird flu challenges and the busy Christmas buying season.
The good news? She expects eggs to be back on store shelves now that the holiday period has passed.
“Eggs are an important staple, and everybody buys more at Christmas,” she told Daily Hive in an interview Thursday. “But now that Christmas is behind us, the shortages should slowly decrease over the next couple of weeks.”
The industry has turned to bringing in eggs from other regions of Canada that are less impacted by bird flu to keep store shelves stocked, Brittain added.
BC farmers have been dealing with bird flu for the last three years, leading to millions of birds being culled to prevent the virus’ spread. This year, it’s affected laying hens more than any other type of farmed bird, Brittain said. Experts are still working to figure out why.
Daily Hive reached out to Save On Foods to ask about egg shortages due to bird flu, but the grocery chain has not replied. Some customers also reported that certain Safeway locations were out of eggs. That grocery chain declined to comment for this story.
Safeway in Burnaby today. 🙄🥚 pic.twitter.com/hD7R9cMfvd
— dyvrhansen (@dmrh52) December 31, 2024
In the meantime, Brittain encouraged shoppers to try a different type of egg if they can’t find their preferred brand in store.
“We fully understand why people might be worried seeing an empty shelf,” Brittain said. “We’re doing everything we can to ensure they are in grocery stores when British Columbians want to get eggs for their family.”