FOX Business’ Jeff Flock visits a Pennsylvania farm that rents chickens to customers willing to pay the high cost of eggs on ‘The Claman Countdown.’
Egg prices are rising, and industry experts predict that these high costs will continue until 2025, especially if the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI), also known as “bird flu”, continues.
Wells Fargo Agri-Food Institute Sector Manager Kevin Bergquist said egg prices have increased since 2023 due to a combination of seasonal price increases during the holidays and egg supply disruptions due to bird flu.
Last year’s prices “generally” remain above 2023 prices and “often exceed egg prices from 2022, which is when the HPAI took hold of the egg market,” according to Bergquist.
HERE ARE ACTUALLY GROCERS RAISING PRICES
Supermarket egg prices, which jumped nearly 55% in November, do not reflect consumer egg prices at the grocery store, which can vary widely.
Egg shelves are seen with a note apologizing to customers for the price increase after a reduction in production brought about by the death of chickens caused by various diseases, in San Mateo, California, United States on January 23, 2023. ((Photo by Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images) / Getty Images)
According to the Consumer Price Index, grocery prices rose 0.5% in November, and four of the six major retail groups saw increases in costs. Eggs showed a significant increase in the number of eggs.
Meat, poultry, fish and egg prices rose 1.7% in November, but egg prices rose 8.2%.
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Wells Fargo Agri-Food Institute Chief Agricultural Economist Dr. Michael Swanson told Fox Business that the buyer’s price is more relevant because that’s what the buyer sees.
“Many retailers are slow to adjust prices for staples like milk and eggs to get the consumer into the store,” Swanson said. “They will use that category to help with their pricing. Sometimes, they get huge margins, and sometimes they take negative margins for a while to avoid upsetting the consumer with big changes.”
Before the major bird flu outbreak in March 2022, flock numbers were at a level that supported low egg prices, according to Bergquist. He noted that the total cost is less than $1.50 per dozen.
A customer buys eggs at a Kroger grocery store on August 15, 2022 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images/Getty Images)
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However, the outbreak disrupted the market, leading to record egg prices in December 2022. The average price was adjusted to a lower level in 2023 as producers rebuilt their flocks.
Bergquist said flock size was disrupted again when bird flu re-emerged in late 2023 and 2024, resulting in undersupplied egg markets.
Producers have not yet been able to rebuild the total egg-laying flock with outbreaks that have occurred again this year.
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