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Dive Overview:
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Egg prices are rising again as a devastating outbreak of avian flu and growing consumer demand puts pressure on supply.
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Wholesale price of eggs In August, it topped about $3 per dozen.That’s up from the usual range of $1 to $2 a pound, and retail egg prices in August were up 19 percent compared to last year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Latest Consumer Price Index DataMeanwhile, the overall grocery category only increased 1%.
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Mark Dresner, public affairs director for the American Egg Council, said egg supplies are “weaker than normal” because of highly pathogenic avian influenza. At the same time, egg sales in the U.S. have jumped to levels not seen since the pandemic.
Dive Insights:
Wild fluctuations in egg prices have roiled the market over the past few years: after reaching record prices at the end of 2022, prices crashed, only to rise again late last year.
Despite price fluctuations, consumers are continuing to buy eggs — and in recent months, they’ve been doing so in increasing numbers: Egg sales rose more than 5% in August compared with 2023, and producers sold 237 million eggs in the last four weeks, Dresdner said, citing Nielsen data.
“We haven’t seen numbers like this since the first year of the pandemic,” he said, when sales surged as consumers stocked up on essentials like eggs and toilet paper.
As domestic demand remains strong, other countries are also increasing their purchases of U.S. eggs. Total exports in the first four months of the year were $1.2 billion, according to the U.S. Egg Export Council. Eggs increased 22% to 63.5 million dozenHowever, its value fell by 22%.
Demand is expected to rise further through the autumn and winter as the Christmas baking season gets into full swing, which could put further pressure on commercial egg supplies, especially as bird flu is also more likely to spread in colder climates.
About 18.7 million layers and pullets have died from the avian virus in seven states so far this year, the health ministry said. United States Department of AgricultureCal-Maine Foods, the largest egg producer in the U.S., temporarily Production stopped An outbreak occurred at one of the plants in Texas after bird flu was detected.
Two years after the latest outbreak, chicken farmers are better equipped to respond to the threat of avian flu and “when it hits, they bounce back quicker than they used to,” Dresner said. Still, rebuilding flocks takes time.
“Farmers are doing everything they can to keep their chickens healthy and produce eggs,” Dresner said. “When it comes to avian flu, we’re on high alert.”
