Rising egg prices set to turn Xmas cakes dearer

Hyderabad: Christmas cakes have become expensive this festive season as the egg prices have shot up abnormally. The artificial hike of egg prices by the poultry industry inflated the cost of cake production in the city. Cake prices have increased by at least 20 per cent. Traders worried the demand for cakes made with eggs, which are being used as one of the main ingredients, will go down this year.

Each egg price has been increased to Rs eight to Rs nine suddenly this week. The egg suppliers, mainly the poultry industry, enhanced the egg prices, eyeing to earn more revenues from egg sales during the Christmas season this year. The use of egg during this festive season was high mainly because it is being used for cake manufacturing, other dishes prepared for hosting lunch and dinner to the guests during the Christmas.

The price of broiler eggs has risen sharply, with wholesale rates now ranging between Rs 80 and Rs 86 per dozen, while retail prices have climbed to Rs 95 to Rs 100 per dozen and it has risen by almost Rs 1.5 to Rs 2 per egg. Last month, they were Rs 70 per dozen and earlier the eggs were being sold at Rs 50 per dozen. Organic or ‘gaavti’ eggs are fetching even higher prices, with rates reaching Rs 150 per dozen.

The egg-based cake manufacturing would be high as many bakeries receive bulk orders from the Christian community, who gather in large numbers for prayers during pre-Christmas and post-Christmas in the entire month of December. Bakery owners said that the only option to meet the production cost with little profit is to increase the prices and sell them to the consumers.

The middle class will have to shell out more from their pockets to buy the cakes. Normally, each family buys at least two kgs of cake in the entire festive season, and it costs nearly Rs 1,400. This year, they are required to pay nearly Rs 2,000 for cakes. The premium bakers were charging more than Rs 2,500 for two kgs of cake from the consumers.

“People prefer to buy cakes made with eggs only at festival time. The increase of prices will force the consumer to reduce the quantity of cake for purchase or shift to vegetarian cakes that are egg-free due to high cost,” said a baker from the city.

“We are already burdened with the rising costs of other raw materials required for cake preparation. With the recent hike in egg prices, it has become challenging to manage, especially as I have received numerous orders for Christmas and New Year,” said Seema D’Souza, a home-baker in Secunderabad.

“We have never seen prices skyrocket so high. This is all due to some poultry farms monopolising the sales. The hike in egg prices impacted the demand marginally, but the sale of eggs continues as it is a necessity,” said an egg trader.

Poultry industry representatives maintained that egg prices have been increased to beat the increasing demand in the festive season since the consumption would be more than 30 per cent when compared to normal days.