At Market Basket places in some elements of Massachusetts, clients are being requested to restrict their egg purchases to 2 cartons per household. One other shopper on the hunt for eggs, this one in Las Vegas, reported discovering empty cabinets at an area grocery retailer. On social media, a shopper accustomed to paying round $2 for a dozen eggs expressed shock over now having to pay greater than double that quantity. 

Egg restrictions, shortages and record-high costs are ruffling feathers at supermarkets throughout the U.S. as a lethal pressure of avian flu continues to decimate the nation’s poultry flocks. To the dismay of customers nonetheless struggling to digest hovering meals prices, that possible means even increased egg costs in 2025. 

“I feel eggs have felt comparatively excessive over the previous few months,” Kip Inexperienced, co-owner and common supervisor of Montague Diner in Brooklyn, New York, advised CBS Information. “We’re lucky although, we’ve an incredible relationships with our purveyors, with farmers. So everyone is making an attempt to assist one another out, which is beautiful.”

As at most diners, Montague makes use of tons of of eggs a day stated Inexperienced. Whether or not served as a part of a traditional breakfast plate alongside potatoes and toast, or an egg salad sandwich, eggs comprise 40% to 50% of the restaurant’s menu, she stated. 

“I imply, it is even like, there’s some issues that you simply won’t even take into consideration, like in our pancake batter or like in our French toast batter, like simply issues like that. We nonetheless use so many eggs.” 

Even so, Inexperienced says that she and her workforce are “aligned on preserving visitors on the forefront,” which implies shielding them from worth hikes on eggs.

“Yeah, I imply, it is difficult. Like we, we’ve to determine the right way to make it work,” stated Inexperienced. “Eggs are central to us, we’re a diner. You need to have an egg plate,” she stated, including, “We do not ever wish to cease that or to, to make individuals pay extra for one thing like that. So you determine the right way to lower prices elsewhere.”


Native eating places struggling to take care of rising worth of eggs

02:20

The typical worth of a dozen massive, grade-A eggs was $4.15 in December 2024, up 14% from $3.65 in November, federal information exhibits. That is a greater than 60% enhance from the $2.51 it price a yr in the past and 160% greater than the $1.41 customers paid for a similar carton in 2019, CBS Information’ worth tracker reveals.

By comparability, the general month-to-month price of inflation for meals in December was 2.5%, with the price of meals at residence rising simply 0.3%, in line with the newest Client Worth Index information. 

Like a soufflé, egg costs are rising to spectacular heights proper earlier than our eyes. When will it finish? Not anytime quickly, in line with the USDA, which predicts in a current report that egg costs will shoot up one other 20% this yr.

Why are egg costs hovering?

Behind rising egg costs and shortages is a pressure of extremely pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), often known as H5N1, that killed 13.2 million industrial egg-laying hens within the month of December alone and continues to depopulate flocks into 2025, in line with the USDA. Outbreaks of H5N1 had been first detected within the U.S. in 2022 and are thought-about to be the principle driver behind the years-long volatility in egg costs. 

H5N1, which has a excessive mortality price amongst contaminated poultry and wild birds, is being watched carefully by the U.S. Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention as a possible public well being risk. Thus far, the CDC has acquired one report of an individual dying after being hospitalized with extreme sickness from the virus. Amongst cattle, the common mortality and culling price is 2% or much less, in line with the American Veterinary Medical Affiliation. Nevertheless, officers warn that H5N1 is deadly to cats 

For now, the virus stays largely a thorn within the facet of U.S. customers fed up with inflation


Chicken flu and inflation might proceed to drive up the price of eggs, consultants say

02:26

“For a couple of yr and a half now, the form of frequency and severity of avian flu outbreaks within the poultry and egg provide chains within the U.S. have form of simply been on the rise in a giant method,” Ricky Volpe, a professor of agribusiness at Cal Poly State College, San Luis Obispo, advised CBS MoneyWatch. “Everyone seems to be simply form of hoping that, ‘OK, this would be the final one, then we’ll get again to regular.’ However we carry on not getting again to regular.” 

Greater than 79.3 million U.S. chickens died in 2022 and 2023 as results of H5N1 infections and associated culling, in line with a January report from TD Cowen. In whole, H5N1 is estimated to have led to the lack of practically 139 million birds throughout the nation, together with Puerto Rico, in line with the College of Minnesota’s Heart for Infectious Illness Analysis and Coverage. 

Provide hit

A few elements are contributing to the skyrocketing worth of eggs. First, the hen flu outbreaks are disrupting the nation’s provide chain. At farms, meaning anytime the virus is discovered, your complete flock should be slaughtered to assist restrict the virus’ unfold. And with huge egg farms routinely housing greater than 1 million chickens, only a few infections can result in a provide crunch.

“That is an trade that is in a position to right itself fairly rapidly,” Volpe stated. “The issue is it is actually like a nationwide sport of whack-a-mole — as quickly as one outbreak is kind of handled, one other one pops up some other place.” 

If there’s any excellent news for farmers and buyers, it is that it does not take very lengthy to replenish egg provides. 

“Traditionally, we see loads of variation in egg and rooster costs, however usually it has been true that what comes up, should come down, as a result of it solely takes about six weeks for a broiler to succeed in maturity and be market-ready, and I feel it is truly barely lower than that for an egg-laying hen to get to the purpose the place it’s commonly laying a marketable egg, you realize, as soon as a day,” Volpe added.

A second issue driving up egg costs: a persistent scarcity of truck drivers within the U.S. — a mounting downside as extra drivers retire. And with fewer drivers to move eggs to retailers, wholesalers are compelled to lift transport prices.

“Refrigerated truck transportation is a significant ache level within the meals provide chain proper now. There is a scarcity of drivers, long-haul truck charges are up and eggs are in fact very transportation-intensive,” Volpe stated. “Even earlier than we had been coping with avian flu, the vans simply weren’t there to ship eggs in a well timed vogue.”

As a partial answer to the issue, Volpe means that retailers supply eggs domestically wherever attainable.

“[Local suppliers] are fairly nicely insulated from these systemic problems with avian flu or no matter, so provide is wholesome. So it is sensible to enhance provide at any time when attainable domestically from native growers who aren’t dealing with these vital points associated to hen flu and transportation.”

Why are egg costs decrease in some shops? 

Simply as retailers use Thanksgiving Day turkey promotions to draw clients, some grocery shops across the nation are providing decrease egg costs to drive retailer site visitors. 

“You’ll be able to go on social media and you will see somebody complaining about an $8 dozen of eggs after which another person will chime in and go ‘I simply acquired it for $4.’ Effectively, I completely assure you that was bought at a loss, and it was form of a aggressive effort to extend foot site visitors,” Volpe stated. “Possibly eggs are bought at a loss, however now you are going to purchase your milk and your bread and greens, all the pieces else, and people can have the traditional revenue margins.”

Translation: If you happen to discover a whole lot on eggs at a retailer, you would possibly nonetheless find yourself paying roughly the identical price on your complete basket of groceries as you’ll some other place. 

Response from White Home

“There may be loads of reporting on the market that’s placing the onus on this White Home for the elevated price of eggs,” stated White Home Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, when requested at her first press briefing on Tuesday what President Trump is doing to deal with egg costs which have spiked since he took workplace earlier this month. 

“So far as the egg scarcity, what’s additionally contributing to that’s that the Biden admin and Division of Agriculture directed the mass killing of 100 million chickens,” Leavitt, who made no point out of avian flu, stated in her response.

Leavitt went on to induce the Senate to maneuver “swiftly” to substantiate Mr. Trump’s Cupboard nominees “together with his nominee for the US Division of Agriculture, Brooke Rollins … who’s main the financial workforce right here on the White Home, on how we are able to handle the egg scarcity on this nation.”

contributed to this report.

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