TASMANIANS will notice an egg shortage in the lead-up to Christmas after a bird flu outbreak in New South Wales shut two poultry farms.
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Pure Foods Eggs managing director Danny Jones yesterday said the hole in the market would put pressure on his company, which only sells in Tasmania, to supply the demand.
``Tasmania does import a lot of mainland eggs and when availability reduces there is more pressure [for Tasmanian suppliers] to supply to that market,'' Mr Jones said.
Mr Jones said his company was not intending to put the price up because of the shortage, as grain prices had already seen a recent increase.
``We don't want to play auction games.''
Mr Jones, whose company supplies 60 per cent of eggs in the state, said he already had two inquiries from interstate buyers wanting his products.
``We haven't taken on new customers, we're just seeing that all our existing customers want more eggs,'' Mr Jones said.
``We just simply don't have the product.''
Christmas had exacerbated the problem, Mr Jones said.
A Woolworths spokeswoman said customers may notice some gaps in egg supply in stores. ``We have been working with our suppliers to maintain supply and minimise any impact on customers,'' she said.