The price of a dozen eggs remains the highest in years. This American food staple has nearly doubled in retail price from just over a year ago.
Some blame the rise in prices on the Avian Flu, a global bird disease outbreak that led to the slaughter of millions of egg-laying hens. Some blame inflation. Then there is the costly diet of chickens and hens. Chickens and hens consume a lot of wheat, which has been impacted by the war in Ukraine because Russia and Ukraine are key suppliers of grain.
Whatever the cause, the price of eggs seems rotten.
But at Greiser’s Coffee & Market you can still get a breakfast egg sandwich for the same price as last year.
“It is costing us a little more to get our eggs right now, but we haven’t raised the prices of our breakfast sandwiches,” said Adrienne Burke, the owner of Gresier’s. “We’re not going to raise the price of a breakfast sandwich by twenty cents.”
Local farmers have been affected by the Avian Flu, and the rise in grain to feed chickens but they’ve managed to keep prices reasonably low. Some local eggs prices are even lower than supermarket eggs.
At Sherwood Farm, the price of eggs rose but not as steeply as grocery store prices. The farm is just looking to break even.
“We basically determined our prices based on what was going on in the market value,” said Jess Sherwood. “We obviously did not want to be substantially higher than what’s on the market now. So, if that means for us maybe breaking even or not making so much, we do it for our customers because we want to be as reasonable as possible with all our pricing.”
A dozen eggs increased nearly 50% from $1.72 in November 2021 to $5.59 in November 2022, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Greiser’s slightly raised its price for a dozen eggs when it cost more to get them from its supplier. Eggs went up 75 cents. Eggs are now $6.75 up $6 a year ago.
“That raise happened months ago before everyone was going nuts about the Avian Flu,” said Burke.
Burke said the Speckled Rooster in Easton where she gets her eggs has not been affected by the Avian Flu, but have over the past year or more been affected more by the rising costs of everything including chicken feed. The Speckled Rooster Farm could not be reached for comment.
“The way I look at it, a big grocery store they have the staff to run around and change the pricing on the selves,” said Burke. “We just don’t have that much staff that we can dedicate that much time to changing the prices on our shelves when it’s a matter of pennies.”
Photographs by Emma Grimes
