Egg and other shortages?

[TooPatient]

I'm curious what things are like in different areas. I don't spend much time in the stores and seldom buy eggs so not even sure what it looks like here. There are people posting to local groups updates about which stores so or don't have eggs in stock. Just curious what other people are seeing. (Farming/gardening groups may be a bit more biased to seeing shortages coming so wanted to ask a bit more generalized audience!)

 

[stracci2000]

I just left a grocery store that has eggs at $5.49/doz. This is not a typo. This price is over triple what they ought to be.
I refuse to buy them at that price.
I cook all the food in my house, and I'm just not making anything that calls for eggs.
I can hold out as long as they can.

 

[lala646]

My local (large national chain) has had plain, white, large eggs for $6/doz for the last 4-5 months. They blamed the bird flu/egg shortage when they jacked the price >70%. There is a Target directly cross the street that sells the same eggs for anywhere between $3 - $4/dozen. Their price has increase <30% this year. :/

 

[Austina]

Spoke to our friends in England yesterday, their supermarket hasn’t had any eggs for 3 weeks. Doesn’t seem to be any shortage in our local supermarket, although I’ve no idea how much they are. If we need/want something, we buy it.

 

[kgizo]

Last summer our closest grocery store was out of turkey most of the time bc bird flu. That store has consistently had eggs lately. The grocer on the other side of town has been out of eggs for 3 wks. On a baking forum someone posted they paid $9.99/dz bc it was the first time their store had eggs in weeks - and at that price they were almost too nervous to bake with them. It’s odd how the supply is spotty.

 

[telephone89]

I havent noticed any egg shortages, but I have heard that all chicken has spiked in price. Apparently the local pubs/patrons are not happy because their wing night prices have gone through the roof!

 

[Arcadian]

I don't typically buy eggs but they're always high here. 5 dollars a dozen isn't unheard of unless its Walmart, Winn Dixie, or SaveALot. I would worry if I see those types of prices at SaveALot.

 

[diamondringlover]

I haven't noticed a shortage, I paid 2.59 for a dozen large non organic eggs just last Saturday....

 

[elizat]

No shortages, but expensive. Around $6.50 for a dozen, $8 or so for 18.

I feel like they are just going to keep the prices high because they can and a lot of things have new prices that will stick. A gallon of milk is around $6.50 here.

Interesting article:

Why The Federal Reserve Can’t Solve Food Price Inflation

The Federal Reserve continues to raise interest rates in response to price inflation. But monetary policy misses the link between how corporate profits and pricing strategies are hurting consumers and engineering a recession.

www.forbes.com

 

[stracci2000]

I guess I will have to adapt somehow, living egg-free.
I could buy eggs, but I won't. Not for those prices.
If I buy them, and everyone else caves and buys them, then the prices will stay high.
I really don't believe that food prices will ever come down. We're doomed.

 

[Lookinagain]

In my area the shelves with eggs are hit and miss. sometimes they are full, other times half empty. I hear the shortage is because of the avian flu that has hit a lot of the chickens. The prices range from around $4 a dozen to up to around $6 depending on the producer. In my state, they can't sell eggs that are at least "cage free". I usually buy "free range". But the change over last year to requiring cage free at a minimum did affect the prices here too.

 

[canuk-gal]

HI:

I don't use Tylenol--but there were definite empty shelves for those cold and flu products. No shortage of eggs, but prices have risen, along with every other product. Especially dairy. Cheese seems to be a luxury item. My kingdom for a slice of Cambozola.

cheers--Sharon

 

[Mreader]

I haven't noticed a shortage, I paid 2.59 for a dozen large non organic eggs just last Saturday....

Where?! Because as others have said, most are costing higher than $5 a dozen. I haven’t noticed shortages but the prices are insane. And we consume lots of eggs.

 

[YadaYadaYada]

I eat two or three eggs every single morning. Here in central CT, ShopRite’s Wholesome Pantry brand 24 eggs is $7.69, which is cheap compared to $8 and $9 for 18 eggs!

 

[nala]

A dozen eggs in So Cal, 7.99 in grocery stores. Local target has them for 4.99 but always sold out.
12 pack of sodas 7.99
Bacon 6.99 for a pound
When I order take out, my salads skimp on lettuce and breakfast burritos skimp on eggs.

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

I'm curious what things are like in different areas. I don't spend much time in the stores and seldom buy eggs so not even sure what it looks like here. There are people posting to local groups updates about which stores so or don't have eggs in stock. Just curious what other people are seeing. (Farming/gardening groups may be a bit more biased to seeing shortages coming so wanted to ask a bit more generalized audience!)

where do you live ?
that is so weird
we have a major egg shortage here in NZ
we have reached the date where battry hens are now out
we have been aiming for this for quite a few years
seems its not the farmers not up for change
rather its beuracry slowing everything down with farmers caught up in a very long resource concent queue

not an egg in the supermarket this morning
lucky one of our customers who has hens gave me 15 beauties today

the farmer who supplies my work (bakery) is supplying all his regulars first so we are fine, then locals
first thing customers ask is "is there egg in the sandwiches ?"

 

[diamondringlover]

Where?! Because as others have said, most are costing higher than $5 a dozen. I haven’t noticed shortages but the prices are insane. And we consume lots of eggs.

I live in Ohio and it was at a local Meijer store the only other store near me is Kroger and its I think they are 3.59 there and I sometimes get them from a neighbor who sells her eggs from her chickens at 3.00 for 18...I need to check in with her its been awhile since I got any from her.

 

[kenny]

Costco was sold out of the regular eggs I buy.
The did have a package of 'organic free range' brown eggs for around twice the price I pay for the cheepos.

Yesterday at Trader Joes I was near the egg section and overheard an employee tell a customer, "Most days we do get some, but they sell out fast; you have to get here when we open.

I wonder what happened.
Chickens on strike?
Bird flu?????

 

[kenny]

Google is my friend. (Actually duck duck go)

Cliff Notes: It's Bird Flu.

$7 a dozen? Why California eggs are so expensive — and increasingly hard to find

Golden State shoppers are shelling out extreme prices for eggs, amid an outbreak of bird flu that has left grocers struggling to stock cartons.

www.latimes.com

$7 a dozen? Why California eggs are so expensive — and increasingly hard to find​

BY SONJA SHARPSTAFF WRITER
JAN. 7, 2023 5 AM PT

Golden State shoppers are shelling out extreme prices for eggs, amid an outbreak of bird flu that has killed millions of hens and left local grocers struggling to stock cartons that comply with California law.

“I literally just came from another store, because they were out,” said Princess Hodges, 23, who managed to snag an 18-pack at Food4Less in West Adams after striking out at a nearby Ralphs. “I was extremely surprised, because it’s a staple.”

Egg cases were bare across Los Angeles County this week, from Trader Joe’s in Long Beach to Amazon Fresh in Inglewood, Target in MidCity to Ralphs in Glendale. Those such as Hodges who found cartons were shocked by the sudden spike in price.

“I’ve never seen anything like this,” said Anna Sanchez, 32, who scoured the half-empty shelves at a Smart & Final in University Park looking for a dozen eggs for less than $10. “The cheaper ones just aren’t there.”

The average retail price for a dozen large eggs jumped to $7.37 in California this week, up from $4.83 at the beginning of December and just $2.35 at this time last year, data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture show.

The cause is an unprecedented outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza — commonly known as bird flu — that has killed tens of millions of egg-layers nationwide. Among these are millions of cage-free hens California relies on to comply with Proposition 12, the 2018 animal welfare initiative that took effect last year.

The resulting shortages and price increases have hit the poorest Californians hard, eating up inventory at food banks and pinching families who rely on federal programs with strict buying guidelines. And they’ve only been exacerbated in the new year, as new cage-free mandates in other states take effect and demand continues to outstrip supply.

“They had to kill 50 million chickens, and [many of those] lay cage-free,” said Rami Rosenthal, head of Toby Egg Farms, a Los Angeles egg wholesaler. “The other reason is California voted to have [only] cage-free eggs, but California doesn’t have enough.”

More than 57 million chickens and turkeys have died or been culled since the outbreak began last February, including close to 4 million egg-laying hens in December alone. Among the roughly 40 million hens lost nationwide since the outbreak began, more than 5 million were cage-free egg layers, USDA data show.

Although cage-free hens may be somewhat more likely to come into contact with the wild birds that infect flocks with avian influenza, their enclosed counterparts can more easily spread the disease once it reaches a farm. So far, both types of birds have been stricken with the virus at similar rates.

“The current outbreak has impacted all types of farms, regardless of size or production style,” a USDA spokeswoman wrote in an email.

The difference is, cage-free flocks make up only about 30% of the U.S. egg market.

To be sure, the number of cage-free layers has grown rapidly in recent years. Flocks roughly doubled between November 2018, when Proposition 12 passed, and January 2022, when the law took effect. California’s layers now number almost 14 million, and they have so far been spared by the outbreak.

“Luckily, our California egg industry has avoided any bird flu in commercial flocks,” California Poultry Federation President Bill Mattos wrote in an email. “Their biosecurity is outstanding and companies here are working very hard to keep wild birds out of facilities and farms across the state.”

But demand has grown much faster than cage-free flocks. Since Proposition 12 passed, at least six other states have voted to prohibit the sale of conventional eggs. Three of those bans are now in effect, including in Colorado and Washington, where conventional eggs were outlawed Jan. 1.

That means, between this week and the last, almost 14 million more Americans began competing for a product that was already scarce.

“All of a sudden, eggs are out,” said Glen Curado, founder of the World Harvest food bank in Arlington Heights, which serves between 100 and 200 families a day. “From three to four packs, we’re down to one.”

Meanwhile, more families are coming to the food bank, where volunteers dressed as the Three Kings passed out free toys and about a dozen shoppers filled carts with fresh produce, frozen meat and loaves of bread early Friday afternoon.

Most products were out on display for the taking. But eggs had been rationed to small plastic bags in the back.

“We used to give out a flat of two and a half dozen,” Curado explained. “Now, since we’re low, each family are given six eggs.”

Inflation on basic grocery staples such as milk and flour has burdened poor families for months. But the current egg shortage has been particularly tough for families who rely on the federal Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, or WIC.

WIC covers eggs for 1 million low-income expectant parents, new families and children younger than 5 in California.

But only a one-dozen carton of large white eggs, can be bought with WIC vouchers. Because this is typically the cheapest product, it is now also almost impossible to find. Brown, medium, organic, 18-packs — all these are forbidden to WIC shoppers, even when store shelves are otherwise bare.

”It’s the same thing like with [baby] formula — they have to buy specific ounces, specific grams,” said Gloria Martinez of Mother’s Nutritional Center, a Southern California chain specializing in WIC foods.

WIC pays for 50% of the baby formula sold in the U.S. Yet strict size and brand restrictions barred recipients from buying what few cans could be found during the depths of the shortage last year.

Now, the same thing is starting to happen with eggs, experts fear.

“They would go in and the eggs [covered by WIC] are not in stock,” Martinez said. “People come in saying they’re out of eggs, they’re out of formula. Especially because of the price of gas, it’s difficult to go store-hopping.”

Indeed, though the sudden price spike for eggs is not itself a product of inflation, inflation has sharply limited many families’ ability to either hunt down a bargain or shell out for alternatives.

It’s also put pressure on food businesses that can’t pass more costs on to stretched-thin consumers.

“Small businesses especially, you live and die by what your food costs are,” said Tracy Ann Devore, owner of KnowRealityPie in Eagle Rock, who recently let go a dishwasher to stem rising costs. “If this keeps up for another three to six months, it could be a tipping point for some bakeries to close.”

For Devore and many others, the new egg crisis, combined with uncertainty about when it could ebb, has been more unsettling than the gradual price creep of dairy products, flour and produce.

“At some point, you can’t raise the price anymore,” Devore said. “There’s been points where I’ve cried recently, because I thought, ‘How are we going to keep going with this?’”

For grocery shoppers such as Sanchez, the answer has been simply to wait and hope prices come down.

Rosenthal, the wholesaler, said that could be a while.

“They have to replace the chickens, and they don’t start laying overnight,” he said. “There’s not going to be an end to this for another seven or eight months.”

 

[missy]

I’ve noticed the prices of almost everything are going up. Not just eggs. And many goods I buy are sky high. I mean some things have doubled in price here since December.

And I think @stracci2000 is quite right. We won't be seeing less expensive prices anytime soon if at all IMO

 

[YadaYadaYada]

Might be worth looking into keeping chickens, egg prices will not be coming down anytime soon.

I bet Aldi is still a good bargain for eggs if you don’t care about organic. They have historically been the cheapest.

 

[TooPatient]

Might be worth looking into keeping chickens, egg prices will not be coming down anytime soon.

I bet Aldi is still a good bargain for eggs if you don’t care about organic. They have historically been the cheapest.

I have 8 (female) ducks and 13 (chicken) hens (plus my adorable deformed rooster) so will have plenty of eggs once they are all laying. Seldom need to buy already thanks to them. One challenge here is that the price of chicks has gone up, a number of popular breeds are already sold out for the spring/summer at pre-order farms, and the coat of feed continues to go up. That also ignores the avian flu going around. Our flocks are in fully secured runs that are completely covered on top in hopes of avoiding issues. Even a single sick bird testing positive results in every bird on the property being euthanized by the state. Sadly, this also includes birds that never got sick at all. (Look up the duck farm in Monroe, WA for a horribly sad example.) Something in the policy has to change and an emphasis needs to be placed on research.

I hadn't realized it was so bad! I have been following the avian flu, but hadn't realized just how hard it was hitting supply!

 

[missy]

And I just picked up one of my meds. It more than doubled! Just wow. I need it for life so no choice. I shudder to think how much all my other meds have increased. This med is now 269$ whereas before it was 109$ for a 3 month supply. Oh joy looking forward (not) to seeing what all my other meds will now cost me

 

[autumngems]

Egg prices are insane, luckily I work with several people that have chickens and they are always bringing in eggs for anyone who might want them

 

[lulu_ma]

PSA: Eggs are cheaper at Whole Foods than at Walmart!

$3.49 for a dozen large brown eggs (metro Boston area). All eggs in Massachusetts are from cageless chickens now.

 

[Gloria27]

When economic repercussions finally catch up...

 

[danusia]

$4.89 for dozen large at local farmers market. Down a dollar since just before Christmas. A dozen was $3.89 around Thanksgiving. I predict they will go up again before Easter.

 

[kgizo]

Just got back from Target.

 

[yennyfire]

So far, I’ve been able to get them (Atlanta suburbs), but prices have definitely gone up. My kids eat 5 eggs between them every morning! I’m going to have a couple of grumpy kids on my hands if we can no longer find eggs easily. And yes, prices on everything have skyrocketed and aren’t likely to change anytime soon (if ever). I’ve been on the hunt for orzo for a few weeks now. I found one container that was $12 (I normally pay about $3.29) so I passed, but if stuff like this continues, we will definitely have to become more flexible eaters in our house! Still—first world problem. We have food, so I’m not complaining!

 

[pearlsngems]

$7.14 for 18 large brown store brand eggs at Walmart last week. That's about 40 cents per egg.

I'm pretty sure white eggs at Aldi are still under $3/dozen-- I haven't been there in the past few weeks-- but I prefer those brown eggs because they have thicker shells that don't crack when I boil them.