Chickens might never fly high, but the price of their eggs sure has.
Egg prices have reached a near-record high at supermarkets across the country as bird flu continues to disrupt egg supply and demand, leaving consumers to pay noticeably more for the crucial ingredient.
At the end of January, the wholesale price for large white eggs delivered to warehouses in the Midwest was $7.03 per dozen, with some shoppers in the Twin Cities noticing prices as high as $8 per dozen in stores. Some stores have put restrictions on how many cartons of eggs a shopper can buy. And experts estimate prices will continue to increase by 20.3% in 2025.
Even Southern diner chain Waffle House is feeling the pressure, passing a 50-cent-per-egg surcharge on to customers.
An imbalance between supply and demand is primarily driving spikes in poultry product prices. Egg supplies remain tight thanks to a rise in the number of commercial and backyard flocks bird flu has affected. Previous price spikes occurred in 2015 and 2022, again related to bird flu outbreaks. But prices have risen more in the past year (up about $1.63 from December 2023 to December 2024) than they did in the year leading up to the 2015 peak (99 cents from September 2014 to September 2015).
As long as bird flu continues infecting chickens, uncertainty around the supply and cost of eggs will remain, according to Chris James, owner of Fresh Earth Farms in Hastings.
“When you have something in nature that basically destroys full flocks of hens, I think you’re going to have a hard time finding a way to get the prices back down,” James said.
Luckily, there are options for people who want to try to stretch their dollars: