It’s an Easter miracle! Egg prices, which reached record highs this year due to the avian bird flu outbreak, are finally coming back down — just in time for hunts, egg decorating and Sunday brunches.
Easter sees some of the year’s greatest egg demand, next to big baking holidays like Christmas and Thanksgiving. This year, experts say that you won’t have to worry about empty shelves at grocery stores.
“If Easter happened six weeks ago when we were at the peak of the worst A.I. [avian influenza] outbreak that the U.S. has ever seen … we could have seen higher prices and legitimate shortages and real concern,” said Brian Moscogiuri, vice president of Eggs Unlimited, a major egg distributor in Pennsylvania and across the U.S.
“The price has come off record highs of over $8 a dozen for conventional eggs and over $10 a dozen for cage-free eggs,” he added. “Over the last six weeks, we’ve seen prices decline more than 50% in each category.”
A combination of high prices deterring consumers and egg production returning to normal levels means shelves are stocked and supply is finally meeting demand. So, consumers can get egg-cited.
“We’re getting to be down below the $3 mark for retail or wholesale cost [for a dozen],” said Jaime Pukylo, a sales manager at the convenience store chain Country Fair that serves Pennsylvania, New York and Ohio. “So retails are starting to follow suit, coming down.”
Those looking for fresh eggs to decorate and dye should be able to find them handily, although Pukylo noted that white eggs at his stores were still more expensive than brown ones, with higher prices around $4 a dozen.
Egg prices usually rise between 30% and 40% in the six weeks leading up to Easter, according to Moscogiuri. This year, however, the opposite is happening.
“At this point, it’s hard to imagine any type of increase,” he said. “It actually looks like it’s more likely that the market starts to go down from here, as opposed to any higher.”
Smaller independent farms are also avoiding price increases ahead of Easter. Gail’s Egg Farm in Vineland, N.J., sells cartons every week at the Rittenhouse farmers market, and this year the farm has avoided price hikes. For those interested in a more ethical choice, Gail’s Egg Farm prices typically range from $7 to $12 a dozen.
“I haven’t raised my prices, nor will I raise them for Easter because I don’t believe in making eggs so expensive that people cannot afford them,” said Gail Reichman, owner of Gail’s Egg Farm. “These are quality eggs, very high-quality eggs. I think they’re the best eggs on the planet.”
Reichman said that her eggs sell out at the market every week, and Easter will be no exception. She is proud of the humane conditions that her free-range chickens receive. The farm is a no-kill chicken farm, and they did not have to kill any chickens this year due to avian flu.
Chicken farmers are hoping that the worst is behind them when it comes to the outbreak. However, spring is a migratory period for birds, which is when avian flu has spread historically. Thus, it’s hard to predict the future.
“The farmers have got a real bad rap for a variety of different reasons around high prices,” Moscogiuri said. “It’s been a tremendously challenging time for them. And, you know, dealing with the loss of their production, disruption in business. Some of them have had therapists come onsite to deal with employee issues around losing their livelihood day to day.”
Pukylo wonders if all of the fuss around “eggflation” will deter consumers from purchasing eggs like they usually do around Easter time. Prices may be coming down, but they still aren’t the $2 a dozen they used to be. The United States Department of Agriculture reports eggs are still about 60% higher in price than last year.
“I still think the demand is not going to be as high as it’s been in previous times, because I don’t think as many people are going to be coloring easter eggs when they’re over $3 a dozen, close to $4 a dozen,” Pukylo said. “You can go on Amazon or go to Walmart and buy kits that people are using now that don’t use eggs.”
Certainly, there are countless Easter products to pick and choose from — from plastic to chocolate eggs. A fake egg may actually be more practical and less of a mess. Even potatoes are being floated as a dyeing alternative. Still, Moscogiuri believes that chicken eggs remain a better bargain than many of the other products on the market.
“One thing I thought was kind of interesting is I went to one of my local gas stations, quick shop stores, and the cost for one single Reese’s Egg was $2.49, so the equivalent would be like $28 a dozen… The perception around eggs being $2.99 at a high price versus $1.99 where consumers are used to seeing eggs historically changes the way consumers shop,” he said. “Even at high prices, eggs are still a value by comparison.”
Plus, sometimes fake eggs just don’t cut it when it comes to true Easter fun.
“You really don’t replicate the hard cooking and dyeing,” Moscogiuri said. “That’s an experience around Easter for family, so I don’t think you replace that.”
