America’s Grocery Retailer Egg Scarcity in Pictures

February 11, 2025

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Even in case you’re not the kind of one who eats two eggs for breakfast each single day, you’ve doubtless seen that the egg state of affairs on this nation is just a little bit bizarre proper now. Cabinets are empty, costs are excessive, and that’s all because of worsening outbreaks of avian influenza, or chook flu, which have killed tens of millions of birds. There are additionally issues concerning the virus, often known as the H5N1 virus, spreading to different animals, like cows, and people.

Because of this, egg costs are excessive. Egg-laying chickens are extra vulnerable to avian flu than chickens raised for meat for quite a lot of elements. They’re older, and spend for much longer on the farm than chickens raised for meat, that are often slaughtered inside a matter of weeks. And whereas officers are intervening, ordering farms and markets to shut and absolutely disinfect to cease the outbreaks, it’s doubtless that egg costs will stay excessive for the foreseeable future. It’s additionally potential that the shortages might worsen within the coming weeks if outbreaks proceed, and the state of affairs is already fairly bleak.

Over the weekend, I headed to 3 completely different grocery shops in my neighborhood within the Dallas suburbs — Dealer Joe’s, Goal, and Kroger — and the egg cabinets at every have been fairly naked. Each retailer additionally had its personal model of an indication telling clients that the retailer was struggling to supply eggs. “We’re at the moment experiencing excessive demand and provider shortages for eggs,” learn the signal at Goal. “We’re actively in search of further provide.” Others retailers, together with Costco and Complete Meals, are limiting the variety of cartons that clients should purchase.

Heading out to their very own grocery shops, my colleagues at Eater noticed equally empty cabinets, buy limits, and plenty of apologetic signage. Right here’s what the egg state of affairs appears like at grocery shops in cities throughout the nation.

Sky excessive egg costs

Eggs have been greater than $1 every at H Mart within the Los Angeles space.

Kat Thompson

Sparse and completely empty egg cabinets

That grocery shops are discovering it troublesome to maintain eggs stocked has been obvious at shops together with Complete Meals, Safeway, and Dealer Joe’s. A Dealer Joe’s in San Diego even used its empty egg cabinets to inventory different merchandise.