Young said he is paying more than double the price he paid a year ago for eggs. “It’s up about 114 percent as of last week compared to a year ago,” Young said.
The surge in eggs prices, if the spike continues, would cost Young’s business about $1,000 a month, Young said. “And if it goes on for several months — which is not expected — the impact would ripple through the cost of several items,” since eggs are used for the custard base for custard and French Vanilla ice creams and for various baked goods at the restaurant and dairy.
In the Midwest, the average wholesale price last week was $2.62 for a dozen eggs, up from $1.40 a year ago, Brian Moscogiuri, a market reporter for Urner Barry, a food industry trade publication, told the Kansas City Star.
Farmers have lost 47 million hens and turkeys since the virus began spreading a few months ago. Last week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture released a report lowering its forecast for domestic egg production this year to 95.9 billion, down 4 percent from estimates prepared last month. In 2014, the U.S. produced nearly 100 billion eggs.
The “bird flu” virus struck at a time when eggs were rising in popularity. Buoyed by the popularity of protein-rich diets and fresh studies showing dietary cholesterol had little impact on a person’s cholesterol levels, Americans on average consumed 263 eggs last year, a 30-year high.
Restaurants and grocery stores in southern states have felt the most impact. The Texas-based fast-food chain Whataburger announced on June 1 that it was curtailing its breakfast hours because of the impact of the avian flu, although four days later, the company restored its regular breakfast hours, cautioning that it would serve eggs only from 5 a.m. to 11 a.m.
“We’re exploring several options to add to our egg supply, including proactively engaging alternative egg suppliers,” Whataburger officials said on the company’s website. “We will continue to experience some shortages while we work to increase the available supply.”
Also in Texas, the grocery chain H.E.B. started limiting customer purchases to three dozen eggs per visit, in part to deter commercial companies from buying the chain’s eggs, a company official told the New York Times.
Young said he has no plans to raise Young’s Dairy or Golden Jersey Inn menu prices or change portion sizes as a result of the egg price spike. He believes the price surge will last a few months or less — “and in this business, there is always, and I mean always, something that we are paying historically high prices for,” the restaurant owner said.
Some items, such as bacon and other cuts of pork, are returning to a more normal price after reaching historic highs last year, Young said. That will help to balance overall food costs.
There is some evidence that the egg-price spike has reached its peak. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s price report on Thursday noted that whole-egg prices were “mostly lower” while demand into grocery retail channels was “mostly light.” Restaurant and other food-service demand was described as “light to moderate.”
About the Author