Local shopper John Stinson said the shelves at Countdown Anderson’s Bay had been as bare as Mother Hubbard’s cupboard recently, and he was told by a staff member there had been no supplies for two days.
"There is a sign there apologising for egg supplies being low.
"Well right now they are very low indeed."
While he was able to find eggs during a later visit to Countdown Andersons Bay, supplies were still "totally hit and miss", Mr Stinson said.
A Countdown spokesperson said it had a few challenges with getting enough egg stock into the lower South Island in the last couple of weeks.
"We’ve been working hard to get things back on track and supply should be steadily improving on shelf in the coming days."
Foodstuffs spokeswoman Emma Wooster said the humble egg was a staple food for many households.
"They taste great, offer plenty of nutritional value and are hugely versatile, which ensures demand remains consistently high."
Back in 2012, the New Zealand Government introduced legislation to remove battery caged eggs by 2023.
After consultation with experts and much consideration, in 2017 Foodstuffs made a commitment to stock only cage-free eggs with a target date of 2027.
"We’ve been clear on our position with the industry for over five years now, because we understand the industry needs certainty."
At present it was just a few months into the new Government regulations where battery caged eggs were banned from sale in New Zealand.
To help smooth supply and make it fair for customers while there was a temporary decrease in overall supply, a number of Foodstuffs stores had put temporary limits on how many eggs customers could buy.
"At the same time, our teams are working hard to support our egg suppliers," Ms Wooster said.
"We’ve got good relationships and are committed to working with them to navigate what is a well signalled, big change for the industry."
A decrease in supply, coupled with an increase in demand and the growing cost of looking after hens such as feed, equipment, fuel and power were all contributing to egg suppliers increasing their prices in recent months.
Store teams in Dunedin sourced their eggs from several local suppliers with fresh deliveries coming in most days.
"They tell us eggs are more popular than ever and they are flying off the shelves as soon as they are restocked."
Suppliers said supermarkets should all start to see an increase in supply around mid-2023, she said.
