FALMOUTH, Trelawny — President of the Jamaica Egg Farmers Association, Mark Campbell has sought to assure consumers that there will be a sufficient supply of eggs to meet the usually strong demand over the festive season.

Campbell asserted that contrary to reports in the media in which Jamaica Agricultural Society (JAS) President Lenworth Fulton expressed that local egg farmers would not keep up with the traditional increase in demand for the product, the data is suggesting otherwise.

“I am quite familiar with the data on egg production in the country and I can say with utmost certainty that what the data is showing is we are experiencing sufficient productivity on the ground. So there will be absolutely no shortage of eggs this Christmas, therefore, consumers should have no fear about shortage,” Campbell told the Jamaica Observer.

He also underscored that table eggs are in sufficient supply right across the country at this time.

“There were times in the past when sections of the country might be short. Eggs might be sufficient in one area but might be short in another. Not so this time around. Eggs are adequate everywhere,” Campbell stressed.

In fact, he disclosed that talks are now at a sensitive stage between some regional nations now exploring the feasibility of the exportation of local eggs.

“We have received enquiries from several Caribbean countries, including Trinidad, Cuba, St Martin and Barbados ,” Campbell told the Sunday Observer during an exclusive interview.

“At least between two of the countries, negotiations are at a delicate stage with them. And, we have enough that we can supply them,” he added.

He pointed out that the local egg farmers association was taking a strategic look at the countries that import eggs to forge a long-term exporting relationship with them.

“We have to take a strategic look at it (exportation of eggs). With those countries that produce for themselves, say like Barbados, which are not big importers, we have to be cautious about a market like that. We don’t think it is a sustainable situation because they are able to ramp up their production. The ones that depend exclusively on imports from the United States and so on, those are the ones that we would like to develop a long term relationship with,” Campbell argued.

“Many of the smaller economies don’t produce, they import from our neighbours to the North. Those are the ones we would like to latch on to.”

Meanwhile, he explained that “we never had any doubts that there would be sufficient supply when we saw the amount of poulets that were going out into the farms.

“When we saw the numbers that were going out we were confident and that confidence has materialised,” he said.

Local egg farmers demonstrated resilience in navigating the challenges to their enterprises posed by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

They manged to bounce back despite market fluctuations that saw some of them losing out on supplying the product to the usually reliable and lucrative hotel sector.