In the market basket locations in some parts of Massachusetts, customers are asked to limit your egg Purchase from two cards per family. Another buyer, this in Las Vegas and also in the search for eggs, reported finding empty shelves in a local grocery store. In social networks, a consumer used to To pay around $ 2 for a dozen eggs, he expressed their shock for having to pay more than double that amount.
The shortage of eggs, restrictions and record prices are feathers in supermarkets in the United States as a mortal avian flu strain Continue deciding The country’s corral birds. For consumers who still fight to digest the high costs of food, that probably means that even higher egg prices in 2025.
The average price of a dozen large eggs and grade A was $ 4.15 in December, 14% more than $ 3.65 in November, Federal data shows. That is an increase of more than 60% of the $ 2.51 that cost 12 eggs in December 2023 and 169% more than the $ 1.19 consumers paid for the same cardboard in 2019, the price of CBS News’ tracker reveals.
In comparison, the general monthly rate of food inflation in December was 2.5%, with the cost of food at home only 0.3%, according to the latest Consumer price index data.
Like a souffle, egg prices are increasing at impressive heights just before our eyes. When will it end? Not in the short term, according to the USDA, which predicted In a recent report that egg prices will shoot another 20% this year.
Why are egg prices shooting?
Behind the increase in prices and the shortage of eggs there is a highly pathogenic avian influenza strain (HPAI), known as H5N1, which killed 13.2 million eggs of eggs on December in December alone and continues to depopulate The flocks in 2025, according to the USDA, according to the USDA, according to the USDA, according to the USDA, according to the USDA, according to the USDA, according to the USDA, according to the USDA. . H5N1 shoots were first detected in the US. In 2022 and are considered the main driver behind the volatility of the years in egg prices.
H5N1, which has a high mortality rate between poultry and wild birds are being monitored by the US centers for the control and prevention of diseases such as potential public health threat. Until now, CDCs have received one Report of a person dying After being hospitalized with a serious virus illness. Between cattle, average mortality and sacrifice rate is 2% or less, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association. However, officials warn that H5N1 is lethal for cats
For now, the virus remains mainly a thorn on the side of American consumers inflation.
“For approximately a year and a half, the type of frequency and severity of the avian flu shoots in the supply chains of eggs and eggs in the United States have largely been in a large extent,” a teacher from Volpe, professor at El Agribocio at Cal Poly State University, San Luis Obispo, told CBS Moneywatch. “Everyone expects that ‘Ok, this will be the last one, then we will return to normal.’ But we continue not returning to normal.”
More than 79.3 million American chickens died in 2022 and 2023 as a result of H5N1 infections and related sacrifice, according to January report of TD Cowen. In total, it is estimated that H5N1 has led to the loss of almost 139 million birds throughout the country, including Puerto Rico, according to the Infectious Disease Research and Policy Center of the University of Minnesota.
Supply impact
A couple of factors contribute to the price of eggs. First, aviar flu shoots are interrupting the nation’s supply chain. On farms, that means that every time the virus is found, the whole flock must be sacrificed to help limit the spread of the virus. And with the big egg farms that routinely house more than 1 million chickens, only a few infections can lead to a supply crunch.
“This is an industry that can be corrected quite fast,” Volpe said. “The problem is that it is literally as a national What-A-Mole game, as soon as it is about an outbreak, another appears in another place.”
If there is good news for farmers and buyers, it does not have long to replace egg supplies.
“Historically, we see a great variation in egg prices and chicken, but it has generally been true that what arises, should go down, because it only takes about six weeks for a fattening chicken to reach maturity and be ready, and I believe that it is really a little less than that a chicken that ignites eggs reaches the point where it is regularly putting a marketable egg, you know, once a day, “Volpe added.
A second factor that increases egg prices: a persistent shortage of truck drivers in the US., A assembly problem as more conductors retire. And with fewer drivers to deliver egg shipments to retailers, wholesalers are forced to increase shipping costs paid by retailers.
“Transport of refrigerated trucks is an important pain point in the food supply chain at this time. There is a shortage of drivers, long -distance truck rates are up and the eggs are, of course, very intensive in transportation “Volpe said. “Even before we were dealing with the avian flu, the trucks simply were not there to deliver eggs in a timely manner.
As a partial solution to the problem, Volpe suggests that retailers obtain locally eggs whenever possible.
“[Local suppliers] They are quite well isolated from these systemic problems of avian flu or whatever, so the supply is healthy. Therefore, it makes sense to increase the supply whenever possible locally of local producers that do not face these important problems related to flu and bird transport. “
Why are egg prices lower in some stores?
Like retailers use Turkey’s promotions of Thanksgiving to attract customers, some groceries throughout the country offer lower egg prices to boost store traffic.
“You can go to social networks and you will see someone complaining about a dozen eggs of $ 8 and then someone else intervenes and will go ‘I have it for $ 4’. Well, I absolutely guarantee you that it was sold with a loss, and it was a Species of competitive effort to increase pedestrian traffic, “Volpe said. “Maybe the eggs are sold with losses, but now you are going to buy your milk and your bread and vegetables, everything else, and those will have normal profit margins.”
Translation: If you find a good offer in the eggs in a store, you can still end up paying approximately the same cost throughout your grocery basket that would do it elsewhere.
contributed to this report.
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