Tesco begins restocking 12-egg packs online after long-running supply issues

Until this week, online shoppers wanting the supermarket’s own-brand eggs had been forced to forced to buy multiple packs of six – at a higher cost.

Tesco is finally bringing back packs of 12 eggs for online shoppers following a long-running supply crisis (Gareth Fuller/PA) (PA Archive)

Tesco is finally bringing back packs of 12 eggs for online shoppers following a long-running supply crisis.

The UK’s biggest grocer had already been restocking brick-and-mortar stores with the larger packs of its own-brand eggs, but until this week online shoppers had been forced to buy multiple packs of six.

This meant online shoppers were having to pay for two boxes of six eggs at £1.50 each, rather than being able to buy a dozen for £2.60.

Consumers had expressed annoyance with the situation, with one writing on Mumsnet in January: “Call me cynical, but for the last few months, you are hard pushed to buy a pack of 12 eggs online of any size.

“All you have is 6-egg boxes which cost a lot more if you want 12, etc.”

As the 12-egg packs are phased back in, shoppers have been warned that availability could be patchy, with Tesco.com searches only representing the customer’s local store if logged in or the retailer’s Pitsea Extra store if not logged in.

Egg shortages began in autumn 2022 as producers left the industry or significantly pulled back on production due to soaring costs and shrinking margins.

Customers suffered a spate of price increases towards the end of 2022 and into 2023, which helped drive an overall rise of 26.4% per unit across the category.

But egg production continued to fall, hitting its lowest level in nine years, according to the NFU (National Farmers’ Union), and resulting in gaps on shelves continuing well into the summer.

Separately last year, Tesco phased out its biggest bottles of milk in a move it said would help reduce food waste.

The grocer said it was concerned at the level of wastage associated with six-pint options, but said the smaller four-pint size cost the same per pint as its bigger counterpart.

It said it has no plans to return to stocking six-pint bottles.