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| Free range egg shortage threatens pavlova |
By Briony Sowden BBC News
New Zealand is in the grip of a nationwide egg shortage which is driving up wholesale prices and putting its much-loved dessert, pavlova, at risk.
Supermarket shelves are bare and some stores are putting restrictions on the number of eggs customers can buy.
A long-awaited government ban on battery-caged hens came into effect this month, squeezing supplies...Khaos Cakery in Auckland... can't make one of New Zealand's most popular dishes, pavlova - a meringue-based dessert in which a key ingredient is egg white
The Egg Producers Federation of New Zealand says 3/4 of its members have had to change their farming methods or leave the industry since 2012, when the government announced it intended to ban eggs from battery-caged hens.
"that threw the farmers who were still to transition into complete disarray... If they were to go free-range they'd have to buy a new farm."
The egg shortage in shops has triggered a buying frenzy for pet chickens.
