In some parts of Massachusetts, customers are being asked in market basket locations. Limit their eggs Purchase two coaches per family. Another shopkeeper, it reported to find it in Las Vegas and also on hunting for eggs Blank shelves At a local grocery store. On social media, a consumer addicted Shocked to pay more than double the amount to pay approximately $ 2 for a dozen eggs.
Egg shortage, restrictions and record-high prices are putting wings across the US as a deadly tension of avian flu. Continues The country's poultry herd. Consumers are still struggling to increase the cost of food, which means more egg prices in 2025.
A dozen big in December, the average price of grade-A egg was $ 4.15, in November $ 3.65 to 14%, federal, federal data Show. This is more than $ 2.51 to 60% increase, it costs for 12 eggs in December 2023 and 169% higher than $ 1.19 consumers paid for the same carton in 2019, CBS News' Price Tracker Reveals.
Comparatively, the overall monthly rate of inflation for food in December was 2.5%, according to the cost of food at home only 0.3%, according to, according to the cost of food at home, latest Consumer Price Index Data.
Like a suphal, egg prices are rising to impressive heights right in front of our eyes. When will it end? According to the USDA, never soon, which Prediction In a recent report that egg prices will shoot another 20% this year.
Why are the prices of eggs rising?
The highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) is known as the rising prices of eggs and the reduction, which is known as H5N1, which killed 13.2 million commercial egg laying chickens in the month of December alone and according to the USDA , To continue herds in 2025. , The outbreaks of H5N1 were first found in the US in 2022 and are considered the main driver behind long volatility in egg prices for years.
H5N1, which has high mortality between infected Chicken And wild birds are closely seen by American centers for disease control and prevention as a potential public health ThreatSo far, CDC has received one Report of a person who dies After being hospitalized with a serious illness from the virus. Among the cattle, the average mortality and the kulming rate is 2% or less, According To the American Veterinary Medical Association. However, officials have warned that H5N1 is Cats fatal
For now, the virus is mostly a fork in favor of American consumers Fed with inflation,
“Now for about one and a half years, the frequency and severity of avian flu outbreaks in poultry and egg supply chains in the US is just on a large -scale growth,” Ricky Volpe, a professor, a professor, calcity Agriculture at State University, San Luis Obispo told CBS Manivatch. “Everyone is just hoping,” Okay, it will be the last, then we will be normal. ” But we are not returning to normal. ,
As of January, more than 79.3 million chickens died in 2022 and 2023 as a result of H5N1 infection and related Kalinga. Report From TD Cowen. Overall, the H5N1 estimates that it damages around 139 million birds across the country, including Puerto Rico, according to the Center for Infecties Disease Research and Policy of the University of Minnesota.
Supply hit
Some factors are contributing to the sky -touching price of eggs. First, the outbreak of bird flu is disrupting the country's supply chain. In the fields, this means that the virus is found anytime, the entire herd should be killed to help limit the spread of the virus. And with a large -scale egg fields regularly with housing of more than 1 million chickens, simply some infections may lack supply.
“This is an industry that is able to correct itself very quickly,” Volpe said. “The problem is that it is literally like a nationwide game of whickery-a-mole-as a outbreak is more or less dealt with, one and one and one else is pop up elsewhere.”
If there is any good news for farmers and shopkeepers, it is that it does not take a lot of time to re -fill the egg supply.
“Historically, we see a lot of variation in the prices of eggs and chicken, but usually it is true that what comes should come down, because a broiler should reach maturity and get ready for the market only six It takes weeks, and I think it is a little less for an egg laying hen to reach the point where it is regularly laying a marketing egg, you know, once a day, once a day, “Volpe said.
Another factor enhancing egg prices: The frequent decrease of truck drivers in the US, more drivers retire as a growing problem. And to distribute egg shipments to retailers with fewer drivers, wholesale vendors are forced to increase shipping cost paid by retailers.
“Refrigerated truck transport is currently a major pain point in the food supply chain. Lack of drivers, long truck rates are up and eggs are definitely very transport-intensive,” Volpe said. “Before we were working with the avian flu, the trucks were not just to lay eggs in fashion on time.
As a partial solution to the problem, Volpe suggests that retail vendors are locally the source of eggs wherever possible.
,[Local suppliers] The supply is very well untouched by these systemic issues of avian flu or whatever, so the supply is healthy. Therefore it makes sense to increase the supply from local producers to increase supply when possible, which are not facing these important issues related to bird flu and transport. ,
Why are egg prices low in some shops?
Just as retailers use thanksgiving de turkey promotion to attract customers, some grocery stores across the country are reducing egg prices to run store traffic.
“You can go on social media and you will see someone complaining about $ 8 dozen eggs and then churn someone else and 'I just got for $ 4'. Okay, I completely guarantee you that a loss was sold, and it was a competitive attempt to increase the leg traffic, “Volpe said. “Maybe eggs are sold in a loss, but now you are going to buy your milk and your bread and vegetables, everything else, and they will have a general profit margin.”
Translation: If you get a good deal on eggs at a store, you can still pay almost the same cost for your entire basket of grocery items as you will do elsewhere.
Contributed to this report.