Avisur: consumption and production of eggs fell by 40% across the country

Egg is the cheapest protein and valuable to Peruvians, who in 2021 consumed an average of 243 units per year per person. According to the Ministry of Agrarian Development and Irrigation, the high level of consumption made the country the fifth-largest egg consumer in all of Latin America in 2019.

However, this year, the figures fell by 40%, as a result of high production costs, which raised the price of the poultry product and now the per capita consumption has reached 100 units until June this 2022, the forecast for December does not exceed 180 per person, according to South Poultry Association (Avisur).

“We are going backwards from 2020, that year we reached 33 million chickens, in 2021 we dropped to 29 million, and now we have 23 million chickens, that’s how we went down. Because people don’t have the funds to buy eggs, they buy less,” Alex Geri said of raising chickens for egg production.

Nationally, daily egg production has dropped from 100,000 packs of 180 eggs each to 60,000, so producers have scaled back on raising chickens as corn increased investment per pack from 18 soles to 35.

According to the Central Reserve Bank, a ton of corn has been reduced to $252.5; i.e. 3% between 10 and 17 August. The downward trend has been observed for several weeks, but has not yet affected Peru, as ships with this product will arrive in the first half of December.

Egg smuggling in the south

As eggs have become more expensive, their smuggling from Bolivia has captured 12% of national consumption, with a focus on the south of the country. The price of these products is almost 50% less, and they were distributed from Juliaca, but in Peru they came through Tembladera in Cajamarca; therefore controls were tightened to remove them from the market, but this also affected the producers’ profits while they were being sold.

“Last week, two trailers and a truckload of eggs were confiscated, which ended up in the sewers and were distributed from Yuliaka to cities in the south. Bolivia severe laryngotracheitis and newcastle; in addition to salmonellosis,” he explained.

Producers by 88%

The climatic factor also affects its production, since Birds are affected by respiratory diseases, so they must be treated, and their eggs are not suitable for sale.