In San José de las Lajas, Mayabeque, eggs imported from Brazil are sold exclusively in dollars at the La Época market and sell out within minutes. The $5.25 price per 30-egg carton equals over 2,500 pesos, making it a luxury for many Cubans. This highlights the crisis in local egg production, which has plummeted in recent decades.
The La Época market in San José de las Lajas, run by the state-owned Tiendas Caribe chain, stocks eggs imported from Brazil with labels in English and Portuguese. Customers eye the stacks of cartons under white lights before making bulk purchases. An employee confides: “I don’t know where people get the dollars from, but they buy them in bulk”.
Tamara, a retiree, protests while paying in cash: “Since I don’t have a Clasica card, I have no other choice”. She receives change in candy for the six dollars handed over. “These days in San Jose, eating an egg is a luxury — not only because of the price but because you can’t find them anywhere”, she explains to 14ymedio. Her purchase, to be shared with a friend, costs more than a third of her monthly pension and will cover lunches for a few days.
Cuba's egg production has fallen from 2.717 billion in 1991 to just 385 million in 2024, according to the official newspaper Trabajadores in August. Provinces like Mayabeque have lost over 60% of their output due to poultry feed shortages and constant power outages. Imports from Brazil and the Dominican Republic aim to meet demand, but MLC (devalued freely convertible currency) stores remain empty.
Vladimir, a local resident paying in dollars thanks to his emigrant sister, says: “Sometimes not even money can solve it, because there’s a total shortage”. Eggs have become an emergency animal protein, substituting for pork, chicken, and fish, with pork steak reaching 1,000 pesos per pound in October. A carton costs nearly half the average monthly salary of 6,500 pesos, and on the street, they sell for up to 3,000 pesos if available.
In the market aisles, resignation prevails. A customer asks if there will be eggs next week, and the employee replies: “Nobody knows that”.