Supermarket giant Tesco has made a change to the way it stocks food after shortages of kitchen fridge staple eggs.
Tesco had left customers annoyed after the supermarket dropped 12 packs of eggs after battling shortages since 2022.
The food giant had only sold eggs in boxes of six following issues with supply, which meant online shoppers were having to pay for two boxes of six eggs at £1.50 each, rather than being able to buy a dozen for £2.60.
The issue led to criticism such as from one Mumsnet member who said in January: “Call me cynical, but for the last few months, you are hard pushed to buy a pack of 12 eggs online of any size.
“All you have is 6-egg boxes which cost a lot more if you want 12, etc.”
The retailer is now beginning to phase in dozen cartons in shops and online but has warned that supply may still be hit and miss for the 12-egg boxes.
Tesco.com searches only show the customer’s local store if logged in or the retailer’s Pitsea Extra store if not logged in.
Egg shortages began in autumn 2022 as producers left the industry or significantly pulled back on production due to soaring costs and shrinking margins.
Customers suffered a series of price increases towards the end of 2022 and into 2023, which helped drive an overall rise of 26.4% per unit across the category.
But egg production continued to fall, hitting its lowest level in nine years, according to the NFU (National Farmers’ Union), resulting in gaps on shelves continuing well into the summer.
It comes after last year, Tesco phased out its biggest bottles of milk in a move it said would help reduce food waste.
The grocer said it was concerned at the level of wastage associated with six-pint options, but said the smaller four-pint size cost the same per pint as its bigger counterpart.
It said it has no plans to return to stocking six-pint bottles.
