Ukraine has become UK's leading chicken egg supplier in 2025, local farmers concerned

Ukraine and Poland have overtaken other EU countries to become the UK’s biggest egg suppliers, which has caused outrage among local farmers, The Guardian said, citing data from the UK's Animal and Plant Health Agency.

According to it, the Netherlands supplied a large proportion of UK eggs in 2022, its share has steadily fallen. By 2025, Ukraine and Poland together accounted for more than 15m kilograms, with Spain, Italy and other southern and eastern European countries also having increased their exports.

According to the Agency, as of July 2025, Ukraine supplied the UK with the largest amount of eggs, with a total weight of 8 million kg, followed by Poland (almost 7 million kg), Spain (5 million kg), Belgium (2.8 million kg) and Italy (2 million kg).

Mark Williams, the chair of the British Egg Industry Council, said UK farmers were being placed at an unfair disadvantage. “Our farmers are asked to invest in ever-higher standards of hen welfare while the government leaves the back door open to eggs produced in a system that is banned in the UK. This is morally wrong and unfair, and the government should not be doing this,” he said.

Williams said battery cages outlawed in the UK since 2012 were still commonplace in Ukraine, and that eggs linked to food safety issues in mainland Europe continued to be traded.

At the same time, he expressed understanding for the challenges facing Ukrainian farmers suffering from the war and praised the efforts of European countries to help Ukraine, in particular by suspending duties on agricultural products.