Millions of eggs have been flown into Israel ahead of Passover after exceptional consumer demand left supermarket shelves empty.
As importers sought to beat the clock ahead of Wednesday evening’s festivities, three planeloads of eggs landed in Israel on Tuesday onboard El Al Dreamliner airplanes, carrying a total of 2.64 million eggs from Portugal.
The extra supplies follow the arrival of 4.62 million eggs imported from four European countries on Sunday. By the end of April, 32.67 million imported eggs are expected to be distributed to Israeli shops, according to data gathered by the Agriculture Ministry.
Last week, the Prime Minister’s Office said the government will subsidize the import of millions of eggs to ensure no shortage will be experienced during the holiday.
Demand typically surges 20% ahead of the seven-day-long holiday. The Agriculture Ministry also announced it will increase its quota of duty-free imports for an additional 100 million eggs.