Flour Bakery in Boston cannot do much with just his homonymous ingredient; The eggs are almost everything from cakes and cakes to brioche bread. With the avian flu in egg supplies and increasing prices, owner Joanne Chang said he is charging 50 cents for sandwiches and egg quiches, products where eggs are among the most visible components.
“We kept all the time we could,” he said.
Egg prices have shot in the middle of great shortage due to avian influenza. The current outbreak began in 2022 and has affected more than 162 million birds, according to the United States Department of Agriculture, which caused many farmers to sacrifice their herds. More than 27 million birds have been lost due to the virus so far this year, this year, the American Egg Board Trade Group estimates.
A dozen large eggs to be reached an average of $ 4.95 in January, according to federal data, exceeding the last peak of $ 4.82 in January 2023. In the middle, prices fell-last January, the average was Only $ 2.52, and companies and consumers are now feeling cervical whip.
“You see fluctuations, but you can’t adjust your prices every time,” said Chang. She estimated to pay $ 43 for a case, 15 dozen, or 180 eggs, as recently as December. Last week, that bill increased to $ 87. She said that her supplier has begun to send large extra eggs instead of large, which are normally the most common size.
As small companies weigh whether to increase prices to compensate for costs that threaten their profit margins, the main food chains for breakfast, such as Waffle House, have taken criticism from customers who oppose paying more. Many groceries have begun to ration eggs, with the limiting purchases of Trader Joe to a dozen per customer; Some Kroger and Aldi stores establish that lid on two cards per trip.
Farmers are fighting not only to meet demand, but also prevent their chickens from contracting the virus, said the president and executive director of the American Board of Egg, Emily Metz.
“We are in the struggle of our lives,” he said. “My farmers wake up every day for fear that their farm will be next, and unfortunately we have not been able to obtain any relief.”
Some hopes can be on the horizon. The USDA has granted a conditional license for a vaccine for poultry, although it has not yet been approved for commercial use. Meanwhile, many farmers have been forced to sacrifice their herds and thoroughly disinfect their facilities in case of outbreak, Metz said. She estimated that she could carry the affected farms, take nine to 12 months to recover completely from an outbreak.
Normally, there are around an egg set bird for each person in the United States, or more than 330 million birds, Metz said. That count has fallen below 280 million, he said, so the country is experiencing shortage.
“The eggs are indispensable,” Metz said, added that he receives dozens of customer calls that ask how egg farmers can help.
Buying organic, ironically, has become a cheaper and affordable option for us.
Sarah Botcher, Black Walnut Bakery, Minneapolis
Sarah Botcher, who runs Black Walnut Bakery in Minneapolis, thought he had lucky amid the prices of shot eggs. For months, its local organic supplier had not increased prices, until Monday night, when it alerted it to an imminent increase of 18%. It is a much lower increase than other suppliers, said Botcher, who usually orders six cases per week.
“That is not going to break the bank for me, and that begins in a couple of weeks,” Botcher said, adding that “buying organic, ironically, has become a cheaper and affordable option for us.”
Farm to People, a food delivery service based in New York, has announced eggs raised in pastures during the outbreak, saying that its cardboard of $ 7.49 of a dozen has seen only an increase in prices of 50 cents in recent seven years. The company has promised “without the price of eggs” and called on the national scarcity “another sign of a broken food system where the great farms of factories fall short.”
The eggs are not the only basic element of the bakery that has become more expensive. A global cocoa crunch has been sending the largest higher more high costs in recent weeks, and Botcher said he has seen prices for some chocolate increase varieties anywhere from 35% to 50% during the past year, A period in which labor costs have also increased.
When something rises drastically, this quickly, there is not much we can do, except eating the cost.
Darrin McMillen, Grandview Bakery, Pittsburgh
She is a “frugal” baker, he said, and is used to reducing waste and leftovers to keep costs low. Even so, he plans to increase the prices of his egg and cheese sandwich by $ 1, and some other cakes in a room.
“Your margins begin to get smaller and smaller, and you just have to be far ahead of the game and continue increasing your prices,” he said.
Darrin McMillen, owner of Grandview Bakery in Pittsburgh, said that the cost of a cube of 30 pounds of prebeated eggs increased by 345% between January 2024 and this month.
“When something rises drastically, this quickly, there is not much we can do, except eating the cost,” he said.
McMillen decided not to increase the prices of his tired of inflation, but it was a difficult decision.
“You almost feel defeated,” he said.
