THE PRICELESS EGG

Evening Post, Volume CXXXIII, Issue 96, 24 April 1942, Page 4

THE PRICELESS EGG

"Yes, we have. no eggs and don't know when we shall get any" heads a notice in a Wellington grocer's shop window. This describes the egg, position at the moment Hens are going slow as is their wont at this time of year; but the scarcity for the general market is accentuated by the demands for the military. Eggs are the stuff to give the troops, according to best commissariat opinion, and eggs the troops are getting, plus bacon. Wholesale prices (agreed on by the Marketing Division, Egg Marketing Committee, and Price Tribunal) are high at 3s 3d per dozen for the decent weight egg, an advance of 3d per dozen on last week's prices; but medium eggs and pullet eggs work out at 2s lOd and 2s 6d a dozen, a rise in price of 4d and 6d a dozen respectively, and these are the weights of eggs that the majority of people can afford to buy. The prices quoted are wholesale. On top of that the retailer has to make his profit. Comment on the shortage was made last evening by the Minister of Marketing, Mr. Barclay. The supply was always low at this time of year, he said, but the shortage had been greatly aggravated by heavy demands of the military forces, and there has been great difficulty in organising additional supplies from the South Island. "These factors had unfortunately operated to the fullest extent this week, but every effort would be made to make the maximum quantity available to the public next week, though a strict rationing system would have to be maintained." [