Photo: FAIHAN GHANI/The Star
Govt to give green light on lower, affordable new grades
KUALA LUMPUR: Industry players are awaiting further instructions from the government before finalising the new grades of affordable chicken eggs.
Federation of Livestock Farmers Associations of Malaysia deputy president Lee Yoon Yeau said the grades would likely be in the D and E range, but this had yet to be fixed.
“We had discussions before the subsidy removal for affordable eggs. The government asked the industry and farmers to produce a special grade egg for the B40 group.
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“The special D and E grades will be sold at lower and affordable prices in supermarkets that will be determined by the government under certain promotions or programmes, like the Bantuan Rahmah or MyKasih,” he said.
Lee said the federation was willing to comply with the government’s request to roll out the affordable eggs.
On the difference between grades A, B, C and D eggs, he said it had to do with weight which ranged from 45g to 70g.
Grade A to B could weigh between 55g and 70g while the affordable ones could be between 45g and 50g.
For the bigger Omega variety, Lee said these were higher priced as special feed was used to produce it.
Lee was commenting on the Agriculture and Food Security Ministry’s announcement on Thursday that a new grade of chicken eggs will be introduced to ensure supply security and price stability.
It said industry players had agreed to this, revealing that the Special Grade Eggs will be offered at a more affordable price.
The ministry said the public can also purchase chicken eggs at competitive prices through the Agro Madani Sales and Rahmah Sales programmes implemented widely across the country, including at sales premises of the Federal Agricultural Marketing Authority (Fama) and Farmers’ Organisation Authority (LPP).
The government announced the restructuring of chicken egg subsidies to take effect as of yesterday as part of a phased and targeted subsidy approach aimed at greater sustainability and higher impact.
Chia Seong Pow, chief operating officer of QL Resources Bhd which is one of Malaysia’s leading chicken egg producers, said current supply was “well balanced”.
“Price points for the eggs are okay depending on consumers’ preferences.
“Prices are still considered reasonable.
“As for the affordable eggs, it will likely come under the Rahmah programme, but we have to wait to see if there are other programmes introduced by the government for eggs,” he added.
According to the ministry, the government spent nearly RM2.5bil to subsidise chicken egg prices between February 2022 and December 2024.
