Grocery shoppers may be in for a surprise whenever they pass through the aisle with “fresh eggs” since the price of those trays seem to be out of proportion. Well, the very costly eggs are not just a problem in one particular area because every grocery store has this jaw-dropping egg prices that take them back to the pandemic era when the price of these daily staples were off the charts.
The prices of eggs have risen by 38% over November 2023. When compared to the price last month, it rose by a staggering 8%.
The data showed that a dozen Grade A eggs cost $3.65 in November, as reported by FRED Economic Data, citing data from the U.S. BLS. Comparing the figure with the same month last year, one can see a significant difference since it was only $2.14 in 2023.
Economists and market analysts noted that the two main reasons for the surge in egg prices were the bird flu, and the increasing demand during the holiday season. As per the law of economics, when the demand is high and the supply is low, one could always expect an increase in prices.
United States egg production for October 2024 fell 4% from last year to 9.19 billion. Production
included 7.89 billion table eggs, and 1.30 billion hatching eggs, of which 1.21 billion were broiler-type and 92.4 million were egg-type, according to data released by U.S. Department of Agriculture
That is exactly what happened with the egg supply in the U.S. The bird flu has reduced the supply of eggs in the market. However, the demand for the holidays is fairly high, which led to the higher egg prices.
Brian Moscogiuri, vice president of egg supplier Eggs Unlimited, “There’s a very real chance we could flirt with record highs.”
In January 2023, egg prices reached their peak at $4.82 per dozen, CNBC reported. A year before that, it was only at $1.93, showing an increase by more than 50%.
Between 2022 to 2023, bird flu became a big culprit in the increase of egg prices. Moscogiuri even said that the bird flu problem in the U.S. is a “serious outbreak.” The disease initially entered the U.S. in 2021 but has stayed in the country, according to experts. Before the 2021 entry, the last time that bird flu made a huge impact on chickens was in 2015.
Fast forward to 2024, and a disturbing data was revealed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which stated that approximately 33 million commercial egg laying chickens were killed because of the disease. CDC data revealed that the deaths of about 15 million birds occurred since Oct. 15. Since then, wholesale prices of eggs have increased by 97%.
Ryan Hojnowski, an egg analyst at the agricultural market research firm Expana said that the incident “caused an egg supply shortage.”
He also added that the fourth quarter always have the highest demand for eggs from consumers due to the holidays, particularly Thanksgiving and Christmas.
