'Didn't expect it': Drought warning on pet and animal food prices

Customers could be set for more price pain on pet and animal food in 2019, with suppliers warning drought conditions will continue to have an impact on the cost of goods.

Smaller operators in the animal food and fresh produce spaces say they expect price increases for a range of products, including chicken feed and hay, to be the new norm into this year.

Elise Moncrieff is involved with both poultry food and commercial egg operations as business manager of New South Wales egg brand The Local Yolk.

She says the business is now spending $5000 a week more to feed its chickens compared with when the business began less than two years ago. The increased food prices began to hit in the second half of 2018.

"We didn't expect it to last this long – we thought this would last six months," Moncrieff said.

But the company is finding itself in a challenging position that many other suppliers and consumers are facing: there are few alternatives but to pay the increased price.

"The risk for us is that we can't shop around – there's no flexibility to shop for new suppliers." Read more

Emma Koehn - Brisbane Times - 3 Jan 2019