Egg Prices Surge in Morocco Ahead of Ramadan, Sparking Consumer Concern

This increase in egg prices to nearly 2 dirhams is not yet exaggerated, according to Abdelatif Zaim, former president of the National Association of Egg Producers. In a statement to the Al3omk website, he explains that the price of eggs is "low" if one considers that two eggs are equivalent to 100 grams of meat in terms of nutritional value, and that 100 grams of meat sells for 10 dirhams, compared to one and a half dirhams for the retail price of eggs.

The expert justifies this recent increase in egg prices by the large-scale importation (75%) of poultry feed, which represents 80% of the cost of egg production. To this are added global inflation and rising fuel and maritime transport costs, he points out, noting that the increase in egg prices is rather recent compared to other products. Abdelatif Zaim also assures that the price of eggs will not increase during the month of Ramadan.

For his part, the president of the National Association of Broiler Chickens and member of the board of directors of the Association for the Defense of Consumer Rights, considers that the current price of eggs is "incomprehensible and inexplicable." The official warns against "lack of transparency," "monopoly" of the market by large producers and "control of production and therefore price increases."

The association president denounces the rise in egg prices, despite the drop in world prices of feed ingredients, their exemption from value-added tax (VAT) in the 2023 finance law, and a 10 billion dirham subsidy granted to producers. He calls for "the opening of an investigation into the exemption of consumer eggs from customs duties in order to create real competition between companies and suppliers of this food, as was the case in 2016, and to exclude producers from imports."