Sainsbury’s threatens shoplifters with prosecution if they are caught swapping premium eggs into cheaper boxes
Sainsbury’s is threatening to prosecute light-fingered thieves who are swapping quality eggs for cheaper boxes amid rising theft.
The high street supermarket has placed notices in stores stating that such practice is ‘considered theft’, while customers are also monitored by CCTV.
One such sign, shared on social media by retail analyst Steve Dresser, appeared on a shelf beneath Burford Browns eggs, which usually retail for £3.20 and promise a “delicious, rich golden yolk that will remind you of times gone by”.
By comparison, a box of six Sainsbury’s own-brand eggs retails for £1.80.
The following statements were included in the warning titled ‘Egg Theft’: ‘Removing eggs from the package is considered theft. Footage of the theft will be forwarded to the police. We prosecute all thieves.’
Sainsbury’s move comes just months after social media influencers highlighted a growing trend in egg swaps due to rising food prices.
The price of a dozen eggs has risen by a third from £2.48 at the start of 2022 to £3.31 today, according to the Office for National Statistics.
Earlier this year Anita Wong, 53, discovered the trick after buying a ten-pack of Clarence Court eggs for £4.50 from her local Waitrose.
Sainsbury’s is threatening to prosecute light-fingered thieves swapping quality eggs for cheaper boxes amid rising theft rates
Burford Browns premium eggs usually retail for £3.20. By comparison, a box of six Sainsbury’s own-brand eggs costs £1.80.
When the Ealing resident opened the packaging he found the premium eggs had been replaced with a cheaper, standard variety.
In a video posted on Instagram he said: ‘This is what’s happening in many supermarkets at the moment.
‘The more expensive eggs, people actually transfer them to cheaper egg boxes and buy them, so people who buy the more expensive eggs reluctantly buy the cheaper eggs.’
When she returned the eggs to her local store, she was informed that the problem was “not uncommon” and that similar experiences were increasingly being reported.
Latest figures released this week show retailers are being hit hard by rising levels of theft.
Theft crimes reported to police in England and Wales have more than doubled in five years.
Total thefts rose by 133 per cent from 228,128 in 2020/21 to 530,457 in 2024/25, according to House of Commons Library data analyzed by the Liberal Democrats.
However, only 19.8 per cent of offenses in 2024/25 resulted in a charge; the worst rate came from the Metropolitan Police at just 6.5 per cent.
Defending the figures, Chief Inspector Rav Pathania, the Metropolitan Police’s chief commercial crime officer, said the thieves had escaped justice because shop owners refused to hand over CCTV to prosecute them.
His words echo those of his boss, Sir Mark Rowley, who was questioned by the Home Affairs Committee in February about shoplifters regularly ‘clearing entire shelves’ and leaving stores without paying.
The Met Commissioner blamed shop owners for the shoplifting epidemic, insisting they ‘reported nothing’ and ‘need to do better’.
But Marks and Spencer’s retail manager Thinus Keeve said customer-facing staff were subjected to violence and abuse every day and called on the Government and London Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan to tackle crime.
Mr Keeve spoke following unrest over an incident at one of the retail giant’s stores in Clapham, south London, earlier this month, which saw hundreds of young people flocking to high street stores as part of an online trend.
Meanwhile, Costa Coffee has hired security guards at around ten stores that face constant theft to prevent food and drinks from being stolen.
Lucy Whing, crime policy lead at the British Retail Consortium, told the Daily Mail: ‘The high level of shoplifting is a significant problem and retailers need to take decisive action to tackle it. After all, we are all victims of retail crime, which raises the prices of goods for honest shoppers.
‘Retailers welcome the imminent introduction of the Crime and Policing Bill, which will strengthen action against offenders, including making assault on a retail worker a standalone offense and removing the £200 threshold for investigating theft.
‘It is vital that the Police intervene in every reported incident to visibly demonstrate to criminals that all retail crime will not be tolerated.’
A survey of 1,000 customer-facing workers by the Customer Service Institute in the UK found that around 43 per cent of frontline staff had experienced hostility or harassment from customers in the past six months; This rate increased to 36 percent compared to the previous year.
When passed, the Crime and Policing Bill will make it an offense to assault a retail worker.
