An unexpected shortage of one product has arisen in Norway: currency and disease are to blame

The general problem of the season – not only in Russia

There is a shortage of eggs not only in Russia. In many areas of Norway, shoppers in stores are greeted with empty egg shelves. This is because more local eggs are now sold than imported eggs. But the supply company blames the Covid-19 pandemic and the collapse of the Norwegian krone.

In Norwegian stores you can now see completely or partially empty egg shelves, reports the newspaper Nettavisen. One reason is that Norwegian eggs were cheaper “in a certain season” than foreign eggs, and this affected demand.

Surprisingly, but true: retailers used to buy imported eggs, but now they buy Norwegian ones instead. In an interview with Nettavisen, chicken and egg company CEO Kjell Rakkenes said that “the increase in demand is due to the fact that the Norwegian market has been affected by conditions outside Norway.

The pandemic and other epidemics in Europe, as well as the weak krona, have led to some players buying more Norwegian eggs than usual, resulting in empty shelves in stores.” At the same time, representatives of retailers admit that they cannot adjust deliveries.

“We have to have eggs in all stores, but the number of eggs in each store may vary depending on sales in a given region,” says Nora Helgesen, public relations representative for the Kiwi chain stores. “I think the situation is getting better.” More and more different categories of eggs are appearing in stores, but we still cannot provide a full range due to insufficient supplies.”

This situation is typical not only for Qiwi, but also for other Norwegian stores. Eggs disappeared especially noticeably before Christmas and New Years, and after Norwegians returned to work on January 2, the situation only worsened. However, store representatives still have the ability to joke about this. Harald Christiansen, director of public relations for the Coop chain of stores, noted that “the good thing about chickens is that they don’t have a Christmas holiday, they lay eggs, so their supplies are replenished throughout the Christmas and New Year holidays.” He noted that demand for eggs was unusually high in the fall and winter.

At the same time, Norwegian marketers do not understand the reasons for the increase in sales. This, of course, may be due to the fact that eggs become cheaper during the season, but in winter they definitely increase. Experts say the explanation is that more people in Norway are baking themselves or eating more at home, especially during holiday weeks.