Aldi sees egg shortages over bird flu

Berlin - German discount chain Aldi South expects shortages due to a three-day ban on shipments of all poultry products from the Netherlands, the world's largest egg exporter, due to an outbreak of bird flu.

Aldi South, which runs more than 1 800 stores in southern and western Germany as well as hundreds more in other European countries, said it was in contact with suppliers outside of the Netherlands to try to avoid possible shortages.

"We expect shortages in our ranges as Aldi South gets eggs and poultry products from various companies in the Netherlands daily," the company said in emailed comments.

In the Netherlands, 150 000 chickens were to be destroyed after the discovery of bird flu near the village of Hekendorp triggered the three-day export ban.

The 700 Dutch poultry farms house 98 million chickens and export 6 billion eggs a year, with the majority going to neighbouring Germany.