Here’s a look at why egg prices are so high – and signs of a push to bring them back down.
In recent months, the average cost of a carton of eggs may have given you sticker shock. The grocery staple has more than doubled in price over the past year, hitting a record $4.82 this January. The cost fell by 6.7 percent in February, but it’s still at historic highs. Here’s a look at why egg prices are so expensive — and the push to bring them back down.
A widespread bird flu
Plenty of grocery items have been affected by inflation over the past year. But the price of eggs has been an extra conspicuous example. A major culprit: A nationwide outbreak of avian flu since February of last year — the worst ever, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that bird flu has affected more than 58.6 million birds in 47 states across the U.S., including “wild aquatic birds, commercial poultry and backyard or hobbyist flocks.”
This isn’t first time avian flu has impacted egg prices — a late 2014 outbreak that mainly affected farms in the Midwest drove up prices through the next year.
Some chirping about price gouging
The skyrocketing prices of eggs have attracted recent scrutiny from Democratic lawmakers and industry groups — with some suggesting that the state of egg prices is less about the bird flu and more about the industry using the outbreak as a red herring to drive up prices unnecessarily.
In January, Farm Action, a farmer-led advocacy organization, sent a letter to the FTC alleging “a collusive scheme among industry leaders to turn inflationary conditions and an avian flu outbreak into an opportunity to extract egregious profits.”
The next week, Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) wrote a letter to the Federal Trade Commission urging it “to open an investigation into potential price gouging and other deceptive practices by the country’s largest egg companies that appear to be contributing to cost increases for American consumers.” His office noted that Rhode Island consumers were paying as much as $5.10 for a dozen eggs in December 2022.
And Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) wrote the FTC in early February to “echo recent calls for the Biden administration to investigate any potential unlawful price manipulation in the egg industry.” The average price of a carton of eggs in Nevada was $6.07 in December 2022, she wrote. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Rep. Katie Porter (D-Calif.) later sent letters to the CEOs of five major U.S. egg producers requesting information about increased prices and company activities.
Retail pressure
The rising costs have added pressure on retailers and consumers alike. Dollar Tree, which has some 8,000 store locations in the U.S. and Canada, announced this week that it won’t sell eggs in its stores until prices come down, with a spokesperson saying they could potentially be off the shelves until this fall. Earlier this year, grocery stores across the U.S. experienced a shortage of eggs on their shelves.
Some relief in the dairy aisle
February egg prices did bring some long-awaited good news for consumers. Egg prices dropped 6.7 percent in February, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Price Index released Tuesday. But while 6.7 percent might sound like a sizable decline, that still leaves the average price of a dozen eggs at $4.21 — more than double last February’s price.
Thanks to Brett Zach for copy editing this article.