The surge in egg prices has finally cracked.
After months of soaring costs, the price of large white shell eggs fell 15 percent in early March, bringing relief to consumers who have been scrambling to adjust their inflation-shellacked grocery budgets. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the average price for a dozen eggs dropped to $6.85 last week, down $1.20 from the end of February.
The decline comes as supply constraints ease, with the USDA reporting no significant outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI)—aka, Bird Flu—in nearly two weeks. The disease has been a major driver of egg shortages, forcing farmers to cull millions of hens and sending prices soaring over the past year.
Breaking the Shell of Inflation
Egg prices have been a key pressure point for consumers navigating lingering inflation. February’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) report showed egg prices up 10.4 percent in a single month and 58.8 percent year-over-year. The surge led to investigations into possible anticompetitive practices among the nation’s largest egg producers, including Cal-Maine Foods.
But while consumer frustration was boiling over, political rhetoric was, at times, even hotter. In recent months, Democrats attempted to tie rising food prices to Trump’s new tariffs on imports from China, Canada, and Mexico. That didn’t make much sense since the U.S. doesn’t import many eggs. But Trump’s political rivals hoped that they could handicap his presidency with high egg price after watching Biden’s presidency weighed down by the yolk of inflation.
Yet egg prices, unlike the narratives, are now heading in the opposite direction.
Not Quite Sunny-Side Up Yet
Despite the recent dip, eggs are still far more expensive than they were just a few years ago. The USDA notes that prices remain 170 percent higher than they were at this time last year.
While some groups credit government scrutiny for the price retreat, others argue that supply recovery and softening consumer demand are the bigger drivers. The Justice Department, under the leadership of Trump’s deputies, launched an investigation of egg prices in recent weeks, according to reports.
Regardless of the cause, consumers are finally getting a little relief at the checkout counter. For an economy still digesting last year’s price surges, that’s nothing to poach fun at.
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