Summary
Egg producers blame the bird flu outbreak for record-high prices, but critics argue dominant companies are exploiting supply shortages to boost profits.
With over 166 million birds culled and egg layers significantly reduced, prices surged from under $2 to nearly $5 per dozen.
Egg supply is down only 4% from last year, yet profits have surged. Cal-Maine Foods, supplying 20% of U.S. eggs, reported a $219 million profit in the last quarter, compared to just $1.2 million before the outbreak, a 18,150% increase.
Lawmakers and advocacy groups are calling for a government investigation into potential monopolistic practices.
There is absolutely no real proof of this.
But the answer is yes.
Eggs are really hard to steal. Not impossible, just difficult.
I live in Alaska, and if nobody was talking about the eggs thing I wouldn’t have had more of a thought about it than “huh, eggs are a little expensive right now. Or are they? Have they always been this expensive?”
For reference, eggs here are $10-$11 a dozen. And for extra reference, a regular sized container of strawberries fluctuates between $5 and $12, and a carton of ice cream (e.g. Dreyer’s) is generally around $12 if it’s not on sale.
The thing is, around here people just… shift what they buy mostly. Strawberries are expensive? Time to buy apples. Ice cream is expensive? Wait to buy until it’s on sale, then buy 8. Bread is only $4.50 a loaf? HOLY SHIT, FILL HALF THE FREEZER.
I’m not trying to minimize the issue. There are lots of people who specifically need eggs (e.g. bakers), but for the most part, I feel like this is some weird hyper-fixation. This feels like toilet paper at the beginning of the pandemic.
To egg distributors: sell more 6-packs. Outside of baking, I just don’t think normal people need that many eggs.
Some people have been having one or three eggs every day for the past 60 years. For me, I just stopped eating eggs, for these people it’s harder. It’s dumb but what isn’t?
It comes down to upbringing. I rarely had eggs for breakfast growing up but my partner had eggs every morning. They strongly prefer 2-3 eggs every morning so we go through a dozen a week. I maintain 2 dozen in the fridge at all times to cover spikes for lunch/diner uses.
We also have no kids. Some people with 2 or 3 kids also grew up on eggs so that’s a dozen gone in a day or two. That’s several dozen a week.
Oh no, when supply dwindles and the demand keeps up or increases, prices increase as well
As economic and market analysis predict it!
Color me surprised
This site is worse than reddit for hive mind
Do you have short term memory loss? They literally did the same thing in 2023.
prices surged from under $2 to nearly $5 per dozen.
Where the fuck does this editor live? Cuz where I am, they went from $2 to $12.
A few states, like California, have minimum cage size mandates, so people in the state are banned from using eggs in the general pool, and so the shortage is worse there.
EDIT: Though it does mean more eggs for people in the no-minimum-cage-size restriction states, so it brings prices down a bit for them.
Fuck do you think?
Narrator: “they are”
Nah, it’s the chickens holding the eggs hostage while they demand equal rights and better pay.
I mean, the article keeps mentioning “egg producers” which can only mean the chickens themselves. No human can actually produce the kind of eggs you want in your omelettes.
I BOUGHT my eggs from small local farmers but they have been charging market prices. I asked a few of them why. One said if he didn’t that people would swoop in and buy all his inventory and likely resell it. Another, who ALSO has not been affected by bird flu said it is an investment for IF he loses his flock. So now I don’t buy eggs and have not been to a breakfast diner in about a year. I have actually ceased from eating out completely and purchase my food mostly from local farms and cut out meat. My cholesterol, sugar and BP have all greatly improved. Who knew, less is more. I am still annoyed that local farmers are keeping up with the market. The local Amish sold “pun’kins” to Walmart at .50 a piece which Walmart then sold for up to $8. At the Amish stand, they were selling them for $8.
What’s a “pun’kin”?
I’m guessing it’s a quantity of eggs, but Google isn’t helping.
A pumpkin.
I’m sure if you offered to buy an entire field of pumpkins they would work with you on the price. It’s sort of how trade works.
A 1000% markup is pretty fucked though. That’s the world we’re dealing with.
The possibility of losing their entire flock of chickens is a pretty reasonable concern right now.
Lawmakers and advocacy groups are calling for a government investigation into potential monopolistic practices.
lol. this government believes in free market and corporate profits. if found guilty of monopolistic practices the top execs will immediately be offered more tax breaks, handouts and/or high profile government positions
They wouldn’t!!
Simply don’t eat eggs smh my head
Yeah poor people just buy better food. Fucking idiots.
Meat’s a lot more expensive than plants lmao
Yes. Next question.
Its called supply and demand. There are less eggs… so they cost more. Lol.
A DIY chicken coop is starting to look like a goldmine. It would pay for itself in a month or two. If you can repurpose some skids / pallets you can build one really cheap. Chicken feed doesn’t cost much.
I have experience with backyard chickens. Its a wonderful experience, chickens are surprisingly cool critters. And you will get the best eggs you’ve ever had. But you won’t be saving any money lol. Still worth it.
at this point you actually probably will unless feed prices have really gone up that high.
It entirely depends on your infrastructure. I was house sitting a large estate once that basically had 0 upkeep costs for their chicken as they’d go and find most of their own food and there were no natural predators nearby. It was literally free eggs sort of deal.
People who have rice fields for example have 0 upkeep ducks that just go to the field and eat all of the critters there so not only you get free eggs and duck your rice maintenance is easier!
Every person I’ve ever talked to who’s done this has said they regretted it.
Chickens are notoriously delicate.
Most people who think on doing this and succeed really love chickens and have a good way with understanding animals and the value of a life. It’s not for everyone
?
That’s really not been my experience. I’ve lived with chickens my entire life and they do just fine. We have mostly ex-commercial laying chickens, with a couple we hatched ourselves and random chickens from people who had to give away theirs. I’d say the average chicken lasts several years with us and even the badly abused ex-layers usually perk up after a month or two. They live in an enclosure maybe 50m X 10m (for roughly 10 chickens and 10 ducks) We never give any medical care or any care at all other than food in the morning and shutting them away at night. They even put themselves to bed! Clean the hutch out every week or two and that’s really it.
Our neighbours who’ve just moved from a city a few years ago seem to cycle through chickens every couple of months so maybe we are particularly skilled at looking after them and I’ve never noticed…
Shop eggs completely suck compared to real eggs. The shells are so thin and the yolks are the palest yellow. I wouldn’t keep chickens if it was just me though - chicken shit is just awful and I wouldn’t want to be tied to being available every morning and night to put them in and out of bed.
