A leader in the egg industry bared in a House Committee on Agriculture and Food briefing Wednesday, Dec. 6, that they were “not closing the idea” of selling eggs by the kilo. 

Philippine Egg Board Association President Francis Uyehara made this remark after Nueva Ecija 3rd district Rep. Ria Vergara raised the eggs per kilo issue during the proceedings. 

“There are moves that they are saying eggs should be sold by weight instead of by piece. Is this something the DA (Department of Agriculture) is looking for?” the solon asked. 

“Right now, we’re not closing the doors, we’re not closing the idea of selling the eggs by the kilo although mahabang-haba pang consultations ito (this will entail a lot of consultations)," replied Uyehara. 

“Matagal na po siyang pinag-uusapan sa industry. Unfortunately hindi po siya nagmo-move because of certain reasons,” he said.

(This has been talked about in the industry for a long time. Unfortunately, it is not moving because of certain reasons.) 

He cited the uncertainty in including the eggs’ packaging in the weighing. This sparks concern as the product’s lengthy route from the farm to retailers involves a variety of packages. 

“So, if you’re going to sell eggs by the kilo, minimum three to four times titimbangin yung itlog (the eggs will be weighed),” Uyehara explained. 

“Unfortunately with the eggs, the more handling, the more chances of breakage. And before mabenta ito sa consumers, marami na pong nabasag,” he noted. 

(And before it can be sold to consumers, many will be broken.) 

Uyehara, leader of the egg farmers organization, said there's also the matter of inconsistencies in the standardization of egg sizes. 

He pointed out that consumers were not aware of the standard egg weight. This is evident among the peddlers in wet markets who sell eggs without specified sizes but in varying prices. 

To address this concern, the resource person advocated for educating consumers about egg sizes. 

According to the Philippine National Standard for Table Eggs by the Bureau of Agriculture and Fisheries Standards, there are seven classes of eggs based on weight, namely: reject, peewee, small, medium, large, extra large, and jumbo. 

Recently, AGAP Party-list Rep. Nicanor Briones proposed selling eggs by the kilo to stop retailers from manipulating actual egg sizes to earn more profit. --Dexter Barro II