Where eggs rise, so will other commodities, officials say

Yahoo

14-02-2025

As avian influenza continues to rattle the poultry industry and drives egg prices up to all-time highs, consumers should soon also expect to pay more for other egg-related products, officials say.
Already bakery items are getting more expensive in some stores, as businesses say they can no longer absorb their rising egg expenses and need to pass them on to customers.
Redner's Markets has been paying more to its bakery suppliers and recently upped its prices for those items, said spokesman Eric White.
Eggs line shelves at Redner's off Route 61, Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025. (MATTHEW PERSCHALL/MULTIMEDIA EDITOR)
'The increases are not here to stay, but they're a reflection of the current market,' he said.
Some additional products that include eggs as ingredients are sure to also rise in price due as a consequence of avian flu, he said.
'People are naturally upset, but they understand the cause,' he said. 'The media is covering this, so I think consumers understand that it is causing havoc with these items.'
For customers who may not realize why prices are up, though, Redner's stores have set up educational materials in their egg cases to explain what is happening.
Chicken breasts line a shelf at Redner's off Route 61, Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025. (MATTHEW PERSCHALL/MULTIMEDIA EDITOR)
As of this week, the bird flu has not caused a rise in poultry prices in Redner's stores, White said.
Avian influenza virus can spread quickly among wild birds, particularly waterfowl, and also through commercial poultry flocks, with mortality close to 100%. Affected flocks of commercial birds are destroyed.
The Pennsylvania Department of Health has said that bird flu presents a very low risk to human health, and that poultry and eggs are safe to eat when cooked properly, but the threat to the industry is still high.
In January, the average price of a dozen Grade A eggs in American cities reached $4.95, surpassing the previous record of $4.82 set two years earlier, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. That price is more than double the average cost of $2.04 from August 2023.
Milk lines the shelves at Redner's off Route 61, Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025. (MATTHEW PERSCHALL/MULTIMEDIA EDITOR)
Prices vary by location and store, though, and some customers are paying twice that much per dozen, with the USDA forecasting that prices will get worse. The department's most recent prediction last month was that egg prices will go up 20% this year, and another jump could come closer to Easter when demand for eggs is typically high.
Egg price increases at Schuylkill County supermarkets vary, but locally there have not been reports of egg shortages that other areas have experienced.
'Like others in our industry, we are seeing price increases for eggs due to continued demand and a stretched supply chain related to the avian flu outbreak, among other factors,' said Giant spokesman Ashley Flower. 'We work closely with our supplier partners to keep prices low for our customers and ensure eggs are available for purchase.'
Weis Markets spokesman Dennis Curtin said that since October 15, nearly 30 million laying hens — about 10% of the country's egg-production capacity — have been lost to avian flu.
Specialty eggs, such as organic and cage-free, are produced in lower quantities and typically cost more than commodity eggs, but the avian flu outbreak has narrowed that price difference and boosted sales of specialty eggs, he said.
'We have held our own keeping eggs in-stock and just brought in new well-priced specialty eggs items to meet this increased demand,' he said.
The growing requests for local, free-range eggs can be seen at Honey Brook Farm in South Manheim Township near Schuylkill Haven, where customers are ordering eggs even before they are laid, and the supply is regularly sold out, said owners Josiah and Angela Meck.
Even smaller farms like Honey Brook, though. are feeling the impact of what's happening industry wide. The day-old chicks it buys to raise and replace hens that no longer lay eggs are now pricier and much harder for the farm to find, with some suppliers already sold out through the end of 2025, said Josiah Meck.
As those costs go up, Honey Brook has been forced to bump up the price it charges for per dozen, the Mecks said.
Stein's Farm Market in West Brunswick Township near Orwigsburg gets its eggs from a local farm which also recently raised its prices, prompting Stein's to increase the cost per dozen from $4.50 to $5.50 per dozen, said Josh Stein, whose family owns the business.
'We're still cheaper than wholesale,' he said.
Unlike some farm stands and stores, Stein's is not yet limiting how many cartons customers can buy.
When egg prices previously peaked two years ago, The Cake Pros in Schuylkill Haven was paying about double the normal rate for the eggs it bought from its distributor, said owner Eileen Williams.
Now, though, the price has more than quadrupled from $70 per 30 dozen to $292, she said.
Because the business uses between 90 and 150 dozen eggs per week to make its cakes, cupcakes, pastries and other items, they are now buying them from Walmart as they search for a cheaper distributor.
'One quiche alone has six eggs in it, so we use a lot,' Williams said.
So far, though, The Cake Pros has not passed its increased expenses on to customers, she said. In fact, the store is giving six-packs of eggs away to customers who need them as part of the blessing boxes it distributes weekly, she said.
'We're shopping around, and trying our best to hold the line,' she said.
Avian flu has forced commercial poultry farms to increase biosecurity practices, especially since a Lynn Township, Lehigh County farm saw Pennsylvania's first confirmed 2025 case of bird flu in domestic poultry.
Jaindl Farms in North Whitehall Township, Lehigh County, is among the farms following biosecurity recommendations from the USDA, according to a recent article in The Morning Call. Jaindl's farm is only a few miles from the Lynn Township farm where the confirmed case occurred, and in 2022, more than 14,000 turkeys at Jaindl were destroyed after the virus was discovered there.
Since the 2022 start of the outbreak, USDA data shows nearly 7 million affected poultry in Pennsylvania, spread between 37 commercial flocks and 44 backyard flocks. The most recent detections in the state occurred Feb. 7 in Lancaster and Lebanon counties, and Jan. 28 in Lehigh County.
Among wild birds, a dead Canada goose found in South Manheim Township in January was the first bird in Schuylkill County confirmed to have avian influenza. Dead birds have tested positive for the virus in counties across the state this year, mostly in small numbers other than a case in Nazareth, Northampton County where 5,000 snow geese were killed by the virus, and another instance where 150 dead snow geese were found in Upper Macungie Township, Lehigh County.