It took two visits to supermarkets plus one trip to a local market to convince me that something was wrong with egg supplies. There are none. A whole city without eggs.
I asked two locals and both said that there had been a huge buy-up for Christmas feasting. One (with a wicked smile on her face) blamed the Portuguese for baking too many cakes.
Basically, the majority of egg demand is supplied from imports as there seems to be no egg farming of sufficient volume in TL. When I asked some expats about their own egg supplies, a common response was disbelief that an agricultural economy had not wound up this sort of egg farming.
Anyway, one of the locals said the next shipment from Singapore or Malaysia (I think), is two weeks away. In general, these imports are significantly cheaper than the OZ equivalent.
A city without eggs for 3 weeks. That first omelette will be a monster.
UPDATE : See my comment below for an update on the egg situation.
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Firstly, I apologise for breaking “Dili-gence Rule One” for reporting something before getting all my facts correct.
On Monday 8 January, Landmark supermarket and one or two other smaller local markets received egg supplies from local producers in Tibar, a village about 10 kms west of Dili. The Timorese eggs are smaller and the price is higher $5-50 or $6 per 30 egg tray, compared to the usual $4-50.
I will have to acquaint myself more fully with the production capacity at Tibar and the other local options.
Anyway, there were no eggs in Dili for a week or so and that’s interesting enough by itself.
ADDENDUM TO THE ADDENDUM
On Tuesday 9 January, the eggs at Landmark supermarket appear to be the usual imported ones at the old prices. So the higher price window was short-lived and the 3 egg omelette is now back on the agenda.