Navigating the French Egg Supply Crisis: Essential Tips for Asian Food Producers

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[RealFood=Reporter Yook Seong-yeon] France is facing an unstable egg supply, and shoppers are noticing. At some major retailers, eggs have been selling out temporarily as supply struggles to keep pace with demand.

According to the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation (aT)’s agri-food export information service (KATI), local media say egg sections in supermarkets and hypermarkets across Paris and the surrounding metro area have frequently been empty because supply can’t meet demand.

This isn’t a short-term glitch — it’s part of a longer-term problem that started in the latter half of last year. The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) reported 1,443 cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) A(H5) in wild birds across 26 European countries between Sept. 6 and Nov. 14 last year. That’s roughly four times the number recorded in the same period the year before, and the highest level since 2016.

France, along with Germany and Austria, is among the few EU countries that ban the culling of male chicks. Animal welfare awareness is high there: France even proposed to the European Commission in November 2025 a sweeping ban on cage housing for laying hens across the EU.

An aT official noted that European consumers are relatively open to plant-based alternative proteins, and the current egg shortage could accelerate the search for substitute ingredients. The official advised processed-food companies planning to enter the European market to strategically consider B2B ingredient solutions for egg replacement — functional materials like soy protein or insect protein, for example.