TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Council of Agriculture Minister Chen Chi-chung (陳吉仲) on Tuesday (Feb. 21) apologized over the recent shortage of eggs and vowed efforts to boost industry resilience.
Foxconn founder Terry Guo (郭台銘), who is rumored to have his eyes on the presidential race, lambasted the government on Tuesday for failing to solve the “egg crisis.”
While offering his apologies for customers complaining about inadequate egg supplies, Chen Chi-chung explained that the latest egg strain could be attributed to multiple factors. He laid out the action being taken to address the woes and asked for understanding.
According to Chen, avian influenza driven by the H5N1 strain is sweeping the globe, having affected more than 6,500 breeding farms. Culls are being conducted on a large scale in Taiwan, the U.S., France, Japan, South Korea, and beyond, exacerbating the availability of chickens.
Previously, Taiwan saw a daily demand of 100,000 to 110,000 carts of eggs, each containing 200 units. The need has increased over the past four years to 120,000 carts, presenting a gap as the country is currently only able to produce 113,000 carts on a daily basis, he said.
The country is seeking to stabilize the stock of chickens with continued imports and measures to cushion the impact of the rise in the cost of feed or diseases such as avian flu. A type of evaporative cooling system, for example, will be promoted to cut the risk of illness spreading in Taiwan’s poultry houses through better airflow.
To that end, Chen said an upgrade of chicken farm facilities is being implemented to create a more sustainable, resilient egg industry.
Some McDonald’s Taiwan stores have temporarily halted the sale of items including egg burgers and muffins as "the sales have exceeded expectations." Retailers from PX Mart to Carrefour are also restricting the number of egg cartons for each purchase.
Taiwan experienced a similar egg shortage last year due to lagging chick restocking, cold fronts, and avian flu outbreaks.