Retail outlets, including Spar, Pick n Pay and Woolworths, have a shortage of eggs or have flagged a looming supply shortage linked to a nationwide outbreak of avian flu. It looks like consumers are going to have to shell out more for this key food product.

If you want some eggs in your pantry, you better get cracking.

Over the weekend, Daily Maverick correspondents noticed signs in a number of Spar outlets in Johannesburg apologising to customers for a shortage of eggs because of an outbreak of bird flu.

"Dear valued Spar customer ... Due to the recent outbreak of Avian Influenza across the country, we are experiencing severe shortages on the supply of eggs from our major suppliers," read one sign at a Spar in the Joburg suburb of Northcliff.

"Spar is doing everything in its power to keep our shelves full. Please be patient with us as we know that this is not an ideal situation."

The sign was posted on shelves that were mostly bare, with only a few cartons of eggs left. Sort of like the case with toilet paper in the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic, and this is also directly related to a disease outbreak.

Spar did not respond over the weekend to requests for comment, but the issue goes beyond one retailer.

While the issue seems to be mostly confined for now to Gauteng, Woolworths outlets in Cape Town and Johannesburg have the following sign on their egg...