Why Egg Prices Have Risen 70% In The Past Year

There has been a dramatic increase in the price of groceries over the last year, but nothing has surpassed the price of eggs, which, according to the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, has risen by 70.1% over the past year.

‍

“The price of a box of 120 eggs used to be $40, but now we pay over $100 for a box,” says Julia Yum, the head of the 24-hour deli that has been owned by her family for almost 30 years in New York City. 

‍

There are times when she receives cracked eggs in shipments from wholesalers, and she asks the wholesaler for credit, even if it's only one or two eggs: "I know it sounds crazy, but that's what I do.". I can't afford to lose anymore."

‍

The deli has added a 50-cent surcharge to credit card purchases as a way to offset inflation, and it has also raised prices on many items in the store, including cartons of eggs, in an effort to keep up with the rising cost of living. However, they have not yet increased the price of egg sandwiches, so it is still a bargain.

‍

“It is important to keep the price as low as possible. "We do not want to lose any more customers than we already have, since we're already feeling the effects of [costs] going up, so we don't want to do anything more than we already did," Yum says.

‍

The price of eggs has skyrocketed

‍

There has been an increase in egg prices due to the same supply chain snarls and labor shortages that increased food costs by 10.1% overall in the past year, as measured by the consumer price index, which is considered to be one of the key measures of inflation. There has also been a severe decline in egg production due to the outbreak of avian flu in the U.S. in 2022, which was responsible for the death of 50.54 million birds.

‍

There are several ways in which wild birds can spread the avian flu virus to poultry flocks, as well as through contaminated clothing and equipment. Due to the loss of flocks, the price of eggs has risen dramatically in the past year, nearly tripling in some states as a result of the loss of flocks.

‍

As an example, the retail price for a dozen large eggs in California is currently $7.37, which is up from a year ago when the price was $2.35, according to a recent report published by the US Department of Agriculture. 

‍

The owner of Cedar Ridge Egg Farm, which has about 25,000 chickens, Sam Miller says he knows what it takes to make eggs, and he isn't making very much money from it. "I am making enough money to be able to keep my business going."

‍

Miller increased the price for a case of five dozen eggs from $45 to $60 due to increased demand. As a result of the loss of flocks and the increased costs of operation, including labor and fuel for transportation, the increased revenue has been eaten away by the increase in costs. Furthermore, he says that the costs of chicken feed have increased by about $14,000 per month during the last few months.

‍

“Since the beginning of the Ukraine-Russian war, we have seen very high input costs related to grains in terms of the production of eggs," said Brian Moscogiuri, global trade strategist at Eggs Unlimited, an egg producer in Australia. "Corn and soy are the two most important ingredients in the production of an egg since they are the feedstuffs that egg layers eat as their main food source." 

‍

It has also become very expensive to prevent avian flu due to the costs involved in prevention.

‍

Moscogiuri explains that there are many costs associated with disinfecting, washing trucks, and trying to deter wild birds from nesting on the property. I think it's a little like this act of God situation that has been unavoidable and there is really no silver bullet or solution to get rid of it."

‍

The outbreak has subsided somewhat in the meantime, resulting in ease in prices as a result. There has been a 50% drop in wholesale egg prices since the beginning of December 2023, as of mid-February 2023. Even though farmers have taken precautions to limit the spread of avian flu, experts say that the virus could resurge in spring, when wild birds migrate across the country during the migration season.