High egg costs hit local stores, restaurants

LOVELL — The nationwide high price of eggs is affecting consumers locally as stores and restaurants deal with the skyrocketing costs. Not only have egg prices hurt consumers at the supermarket, but the high cost is also hurting local restaurants that depend on eggs for their business.

According to Farm Action.us, the wholesale price of Grade-A, large, white shell eggs has gone up from around $.50-$1.30 per dozen in 2021 to $6-$8 per dozen today. According to the Associated Press, the primary reason eggs have become expensive is the bird flu outbreak. When the virus is discovered, an entire flock is often killed on a farm to limit the spread of the disease.

Nearly 158 million birds have been slaughtered overall since the outbreak began.

“I am rolling out a new menu, because I must adjust to price increases,” said Scott Nelson, manager of Mustang Properties and the Mustang Café. “A year ago, I was paying 15 cents an egg and I bought cases of 15 dozen eggs.”

Egg prices then rose to around 25 cents per egg and in recent months soared, Nelson said, reaching close to $1 per egg, a price that is likely to last.

“In the last four months it has been absolutely insane,” Nelson said. “I have a delivery coming in today, and it’s 75 cents an egg. You can see with that drastic an increase, where restaurants already work on small margins, that’s why you don’t see a lot of them make it, quite honestly.”

Other price increases are affecting restaurants, as well, Nelson said.

“This is not just eggs,” Nelson said “Eggs are having this drastic swing to where I have seen it with the proteins, meats and everything. This is what everyone is facing, and my customers can see it at the grocery store. If you go to the market, you will see what they are charging on eggs and other items.”

Nelson said despite the high egg prices, the Mustang Café is still managing to run its business operation,  even though it can be tough at times. He said he is trying to find ways to avoid high costs.

“How I try to manage my budget is I go to a small egg producer out in Cody that I buy eggs from,” Nelson said. “Hands down this is the most challenging time, and people are paying triple the price of eggs. I check my emails when I start my day, and I have read in a newsletter that egg prices are expected to get worse than what they are now, and there is no light at the end of the tunnel.”

Local producers

The supply and demand for eggs has taken its toll for local farming businesses that make deliveries to Lovell residents. With the demand so high, local farmers are having trouble keeping up to speed on egg sales.

“With the demand for eggs where the store price has become astronomical, people turn to us for eggs,” said Rebecca Bates, co-owner of Little Acres Farms. “We have farm fresh eggs, which is a plus, but the demand has become so high we cannot keep up with the demand. I have subscribers make orders online, and our business will continue to make deliveries, but our business can’t take any more orders on eggs because of the trouble of keeping up.”

Bates said due to the recent cold weather conditions, her chickens are not laying eggs, which is the reason she cannot make any additional egg sales.

“Last week alone, our business had an order of 40 dozen eggs,” Bates said. “Our business could not keep up bringing egg orders to the people. I was selling eggs at $4 per dozen, and I would like to keep it at this price, but obviously, the way things are going a lot of people’s chickens are not laying any eggs due to the weather, and it is a huge issue for the local chicken farmers. You need a warm chicken coop for them to lay eggs, and I am lucky to have one and our chickens are laying eggs well. However, at this point our business does not have enough eggs.”

Bates said while some major farming companies are dealing with the bird flu, she said her chickens do not have the flu but are only dealing with the cold weather.

“The bird flu has become a big problem across the country,” Bates said. “Millions of birds have been killed due to the outbreak, and that has put the burden on local suppliers who are trying to produce enough eggs. You will find more and more people who are trying to raise their own chickens, which is not hard to do, but you must have the right setup to do it. I am lucky that my business produces its chicken feed. Part of our business is we are also a local feed company, and we make our chicken feed and other animal feeds.”

For additional information on egg market reports, visit the U.S. Department of Agriculture website at https://www.ams. usda.gov/market-news/ egg-market-news-reports.

This story was published on February 27, 2025.