Bhutan egg prices rise as school nutrition expansion meets supply shortage

School demand and summer heat squeeze egg supplies

Bhutan's One Child, One Egg initiative has delivered about 2.4 million eggs since its February launch, while shoppers face rising prices and some grocers struggle to find stock. As of September 7, 2025, the program serves 31,579 students through 345 schools, including 290 primary schools, five special education institutes and 50 extended classrooms.

The nutrition effort guarantees participating children an egg on each of the five school days a week. Its expansion has created a reliable market for poultry farmers, but the additional demand has arrived alongside summer heat, higher feed costs and changes in where producers send their eggs.

A wholesale carton that cost about Nu 1,900 in February now costs around Nu 2,300. In Thimphu, the retail price of a tray has risen from roughly Nu 280 to about Nu 370. Nu refers to the Bhutanese ngultrum. Those increases amount to approximately 21 percent for the wholesale carton and 32 percent for the retail tray, calculated from the February and current prices.

Grocers describe difficulty obtaining eggs even at higher prices, leaving some shelves empty for days. Restaurants and families are competing for the remaining market supply while schools need regular deliveries to maintain the promised meal provision.

Farmers are trying to keep pace. Gyeltshen, a producer in Paro, operates two farms with about 3,500 chickens and supplies local outlets as well as stores in Thimphu, including 8Eleven and Junction Mart. He sends roughly 30 cartons a month to 8Eleven alone, with seven trays in each carton.

The market continues to function, but supplies move quickly and sellers anticipate further pressure. Shop owners also describe smaller eggs or eggs with thinner shells reaching customers as demand stays strong.

How much does the school program need?

The first year of the One Child, One Egg pilot is projected to require about 8.4 million eggs, with estimated funding of Nu 101 million. Supplying that volume means maintaining production and deliveries throughout the school schedule, rather than filling occasional large orders.

The initiative involves 186 contracted poultry farmers and 78 private vendors. It offers a minimum payment of Nu 10 per egg and a dependable buyer, giving producers a measure of certainty in a market where prices can change quickly.

School deliveries also direct a larger share of production into a regular purchasing channel. Eggs committed to school kitchens are then unavailable to retailers and restaurants, whose orders fluctuate with household purchases and business demand. That helps explain why a program intended to improve children's nutrition can coincide with tighter supplies elsewhere.

The main milestones and requirements are:

• February 2025: The One Child, One Egg initiative began. A wholesale carton cost about Nu 1,900, while a retail tray cost roughly Nu 280.
• By September 7, 2025: The initiative served 31,579 students through 345 schools and had delivered about 2.4 million eggs.
• First year of the pilot: Officials projected a requirement of about 8.4 million eggs and estimated funding of Nu 101 million.

The program's minimum purchase price gives farmers a steady outlet. Rising market prices, however, can make other buyers more attractive, creating a practical challenge for the organisation coordinating school supplies.

What farmers and shops are paying

Paro and Pemagatshel have seen wholesale prices rise from the low Nu 2,000s per carton to about Nu 2,300 to Nu 2,400, according to farmers and shopkeepers. These local prices sit alongside the broader increase from approximately Nu 1,900 in February to around Nu 2,300.

Gyeltshen, the Paro poultry farmer supplying local and Thimphu stores, said he was meeting demand but selling through his stock rapidly. He warned that continued pressure could send the carton price higher.

Currently, I am able to meet the demand, but my stock does not even last a week. If the current situation continues, the price of eggs could shoot up to Nu 3,000.

Yeshi Choden, owner of Paro Canteen, has seen her wholesale purchase price climb from about Nu 1,950 per carton in February to Nu 2,400. Her retail tray price rose from Nu 280 to Nu 370 over the same period.

Choden described paying more despite limited availability, while also seeing a decline in the quality of eggs reaching her business.

We are buying eggs at higher rates despite the low supply and strong market demand. The quality of eggs has also deteriorated compared to before, as demand is high.

For small sellers, the squeeze reaches both purchasing and sales. They must find stock at a higher cost, then set a price customers can afford. For households and restaurants, the result is a more expensive staple and less certainty that it will be available when needed.

Heat and feed costs reduce room to respond

Temperatures in Bhutan's border dzongkhags, or districts, have exceeded 35 degrees Celsius in recent months. Farmers say the heat has strained their layer flocks, the chickens kept to produce eggs, reducing laying rates and increasing the risk of birds dying.

Namkha, a supplier in Pemagatshel, reported losing 50 to 60 birds to summer heat from a flock of about 1,900. Those losses reduce the number of hens available to lay eggs, while heat can also lower production among surviving birds.

Karma Feed prices have risen too, according to farmers. Feed, energy and transport all contribute to the cost of getting an egg from a farm to a shop or school. When those expenses increase, farmers face pressure to charge more for their output.

Feed is the largest single cost in egg production. A higher feed bill therefore matters even for farms that continue laying at their usual rate. For farms also losing birds or collecting fewer eggs in hot weather, higher costs and lower output can arrive together.

Demand alone cannot quickly produce more eggs when flocks are under stress. Keeping birds healthy and maintaining their food and water supplies are part of the response to the shortage, alongside managing where existing eggs are delivered.

Why some districts are running short

Producers are sending eggs to districts where demand and prices are stronger. That movement can help supply buyers willing to pay more, while leaving fewer eggs in the districts where they were produced.

Namkha, the Pemagatshel poultry supplier, said he continued to deliver eggs to schools once a month. He explained that these deliveries had not caused a severe shortage for his own local customers, but that other farmers' shipments outside the district were reducing local availability.

I also deliver eggs to schools as part of the One Child, One Egg initiative in Pemagatshel. Since deliveries are only once a month, I have not faced a severe shortage in meeting local demand. However, because other poultry farmers are sending their eggs to other districts, there is now a shortage in my own district.

In Changyuel, Wangdue, a shopkeeper described five consecutive days without eggs to sell. The shortage there shows how the problem can become an empty shelf rather than simply a higher price.

A grocery vendor in Changyuel described the difficulty of finding supplies and the accompanying increase in prices.

We are struggling to get eggs; there is a severe shortage, and prices have also shot up. Where are the eggs?

Small grocers and consumers in markets with fewer supply connections can feel these gaps first. As farmers follow better prices elsewhere, local shops may struggle to secure enough eggs even when production continues in their district.

Keeping school deliveries attractive to suppliers

Bhutan Livestock Development Corporation Limited, or BLDC, is talking with farmers and vendors to keep school deliveries on schedule. Its task is to preserve the program's steady supply while producers see rising prices in the regular market.

A BLDC official explained that the school program offers dependable demand and that sending all eggs to ordinary markets would change the balance of supply and prices.

We have been educating farmers and vendors about market dynamics and convincing them to continue supplying eggs to schools, as this initiative provides a steady market for them. Unlike the fluctuating market prices, if farmers send eggs only to the market and not to schools, there will obviously be enough eggs in the market, which will cause prices to decrease again.

School contracts provide children with a regular food item and farmers with a firm buyer. Market buyers may offer higher prices during a shortage, but those prices can fall if more eggs become available. Producers must weigh that changing market against the stability of school orders.

Diverting eggs entirely to retail could ease prices for shoppers temporarily, while leaving school kitchens short. Careful coordination, transparent pricing and predictable delivery arrangements can help producers continue school contracts when other prices rise.

No date has been given for the shortage to ease. Continued school deliveries are the immediate priority identified by officials, while transport support, payment arrangements and other relief measures remain possible responses rather than announced commitments.

International egg markets face their own pressures

The United States has faced repeated waves of highly pathogenic avian influenza since 2022. This severe form of bird flu has caused millions of layer hens to die or be culled, meaning killed to control the outbreak. In the most recent surge described in reporting compiled from federal data, more than 20 million egg laying chickens were lost in one quarter.

US retail egg prices rose as supplies tightened. Some restaurant chains introduced temporary surcharges on dishes that depend on eggs, and independent eateries adopted similar charges to cover their costs.

The US Department of Agriculture raised its 2025 egg price outlook sharply, citing the effect of bird flu on the national layer flock and the delay between wholesale and retail price changes. A change in the price paid by shops can take time to reach the price customers see.

Indonesia offered to export up to 1.6 million eggs a month to help fill the US supply gap. The offer illustrates how a shortage in a large importing market can draw supplies from producers elsewhere. Weekly industry reporting also identified high feed costs as a continuing challenge, with corn, soybeans, energy and transport affecting the final cost of a dozen eggs.

Canada offers a different comparison. An opinion analysis argued that its system of production quotas, combined with farms spread across different areas, helped limit price swings relative to the United States during recent bird flu waves. Canada still experienced price increases, but far fewer empty shelves.

Production quotas manage how much producers supply. The Canadian comparison points to the possible value of coordinated production, clear contracts and a rapid response to disease, while recognising that different systems involve trade offs.

Bhutan is not facing an avian flu crisis on that scale. Its immediate pressures are local demand, heat, costs and distribution. International conditions nevertheless help explain the wider pressure on inputs and trade: expensive feed and transport raise production costs, while large importers seeking supplies abroad can tighten flows available to other markets.

Practical ways to keep deliveries moving

School supply arrangements could benefit from continued contact with producers and vendors, predictable payment schedules and temporary assistance where logistics or transport costs are rising faster than contracted rates. The aim would be to keep the promised egg reaching children without leaving ordinary markets with extreme shortages.

Better route planning and pooled deliveries to nearby schools could reduce transport costs for each egg. Spacing school deliveries across the month could also help farmers plan their inventory and flock management for both schools and market customers.

Temporary payment top ups or fuel support for school delivery routes are possible options if retail prices rise far above the minimum school rate. Such support could make school orders more attractive without rewriting the basic contracts.

District officials and cooperatives could map shops that have gone days without stock and prioritise supply runs to those areas. Tracking production, school deliveries, backlogs and prices would give coordinators a clearer view of where eggs are needed most.

District dashboards with information updated as conditions change could help direct supplies toward the thinnest markets. The purpose would be to reduce severe pockets of scarcity and maintain confidence in availability, limiting the incentive to hoard eggs or buy in panic.

Helping farms maintain production

Farms in lower elevation and border districts face particular pressure from hot weather. Shade nets, reliable ventilation, foggers or misting lines, frequent cool water and changes in stocking density could help keep birds comfortable and reduce heat stress.

Feeding birds during cooler morning and evening hours can help maintain their food intake when midday heat reduces appetite. Training and small grants for inexpensive cooling equipment could support production and bird welfare during the hottest months.

Farmers could also manage feed costs through group purchasing, better storage and clear standards for feed quality. Technical advice on feed composition and timing can reduce waste and help preserve laying performance when inputs become more expensive.

Credit matched to flock cycles and school delivery schedules could help farmers manage cash flow. Reliable access to money for feed and other essentials can reduce pressure to cut corners when costs rise.

Targeted support for essential inputs, limited to a defined period, is another possible response where feasible. Preventing a further fall in production matters because rebuilding output after a decline could take months.

How households and food businesses can adjust

Restaurants that depend on eggs for breakfast menus can seek standing orders with suppliers and rotate specials that use fewer eggs while supplies are tight. Where additional charges are needed to cover costs, clear and temporary pricing can help maintain customers' trust.

Bakers can review recipes for ways to reduce egg use or make substitutions in part of their production without compromising quality. These adjustments offer businesses some flexibility while they continue paying more for a less reliable supply.

Households can reduce waste by buying smaller amounts more frequently, refrigerating eggs in a cool part of the refrigerator and moving older eggs to the front so they are used first. Choosing other proteins for some meals can also help manage food budgets.

Avoiding large purchases made in anticipation of further price increases leaves more eggs available for neighbours. In a tight market, buying what is needed rather than building speculative stocks can help limit additional pressure on prices.

Key Points

• Thimphu retail egg trays cost about Nu 370, compared with roughly Nu 280 in February, an increase of approximately 32 percent.
• Wholesale cartons have risen from about Nu 1,900 to around Nu 2,300, with local prices reaching Nu 2,400.
• The One Child, One Egg initiative serves 31,579 students through 345 schools and has delivered about 2.4 million eggs.
• The pilot's first year is projected to require 8.4 million eggs, with estimated funding of Nu 101 million.
• Heat above 35 degrees Celsius, higher feed costs and shipments to districts offering better prices are adding to supply pressure.
• A Changyuel shopkeeper reported five days without eggs, while Paro farmer Gyeltshen warned carton prices could reach Nu 3,000 if conditions persist.
• BLDC is encouraging 186 contracted farmers and 78 private vendors to maintain school supplies, supported by a minimum payment of Nu 10 per egg.
• Possible relief includes more efficient deliveries, targeted transport or input support, farm cooling measures and better tracking of local shortages.