January 13, 2023

 

US egg prices up 64% in some states

Retail data firm Datasembly said prices for a carton of 12 eggs in the US have increased up to 64% in states like Arizona, Nevada, and New Mexico, and 18% up in Oregon, California, and Washington, Fox Business reported.

 

Datasembly obtains data real-time from more than 200 retailers in the US including Walmart, Kroger and Target.

 

The US Consumer Price Index showed the cost of groceries rose 12% in November 2022 compared to the same month last year. However, egg prices outperformed the overall index and experienced the largest annual increase of all food categories, rising 49.1% from the previous year.

 

Greater understanding of the elevated price of eggs will be provided by the CPI figures for December 2022.

 

Still, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the average price for a dozen grade A eggs in November was US$3.59. Data from the labour department showed the average price for the same cartoon a year ago was US$1.72.

 

Cost increases are attributed to rising labour, fuel, and feed prices as well as bird flu outbreaks that have slowed down production in the country.

 

Bird flu, which affected 58 million birds in 2022, had the greatest impact on egg farmers. More than 43 million of those birds were egg-laying chickens, and they were all culled to control the spread of the virus.

 

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) said recurring highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) outbreaks continued to disrupt normal production and marketing patterns into November, adversely impacting export business.

 

The USDA said egg prices have started to soften, but it will take some time before this is reflected.

 

The largest producer and distributor of fresh shell eggs in the US, Cal-Maine Foods, announced last month that it was closely observing the current HPAI outbreak, which was discovered in commercial flocks in the country in February 2022.

 

The company said HPAI continues to circulate throughout the wild bird population in the U.S. and abroad, and that the current epidemic has surpassed the prior 2014-2015 outbreak in terms of the number of affected hens in the US.

 

As of December 28, 2022, none of Cal-owned Maine's or contracted production facilities had tested positive for HPAI, the company noted.

 

The effects of HPAI will be influenced by when the US layer hen flock is replenished, Cal-Maine said. The company believes the HPAI outbreak will continue to exert downward pressure on the overall supply of eggs.

 

For the fiscal second quarter ending November 26, 2022, the company reported record quarterly sales, up 110% to US$801.7 million. A record US$198.6 million was made in net income.

Eggs continue to be a popular go-to option, Datasembly said. As the new year gets underway, more than a few consumers are looking to modify their dietary choices to support recently-minted healthier lifestyle resolutions.

 

-      Fox Business