NEW YORK — Small business owners who depend on eggs for their culinary creations are grappling with sharp increases in prices as a critical supply shortage looms.
Avian flu has led farmers to cull millions of chickens each month, resulting in a dramatic surge in U.S. egg costs. According to recent data, the average price for a dozen Grade A eggs soared to $4.95 in January, surpassing the previous record of $4.82 from two years prior, and it more than doubles the low of $2.04 observed in August 2023. The Agriculture Department forecasts an additional 20% rise in prices for this year.
Most small business owners are weathering these cost hikes, viewing them as another obstacle in their ongoing challenges. However, if the situation continues, they may have to consider raising prices or altering their product offerings.
Liz Berman, the sole proprietor of The Sleepy Baker in Natick, Massachusetts, specializes in baking custom cakes from scratch, alongside offering cupcakes, cookies, pies, and more. She notes that eggs aren’t the only ingredients facing steep price hikes; costs for cocoa powder and butter are also rising, and availability is a growing concern.
Berman prefers buying her medium-sized white eggs in bulk, typically purchasing 18 dozen at a time, but when they became unavailable two weeks ago, she had to switch to brown eggs sold in smaller packages. “It may sound trivial, but as a single-owner operation with a heavy workload, having to manage multiple smaller cartons instead of one bulk order is a hassle,” she explained.
She doesn’t anticipate prices stabilizing anytime soon and pointed out that cocoa powder prices have remained high for several years. “Ultimately, I might have to raise my prices, which could alienate a section of my customer base,” she expressed.
In Princeton, New Jersey, John Nachlinger, the owner of the Bad Cookie Company, has instituted a temporary surcharge of 25 cents per cookie to counterbalance the escalating costs. “With cookies already being a low-margin item, these price increases have severely impacted our profits,” he commented. He hopes that the egg supply issues are only temporary and desires to maintain value for his customers without making permanent price changes.
At Daisies, a pasta restaurant in Chicago, chefs Joe Frillman and Leigh Omilinsky haven’t raised their prices yet but are considering alterations to their menu. Omilinsky is contemplating the introduction of more vegan dessert options and has been experimenting with flax seeds, aiming to minimize waste. “If we require egg yolks, we are definitely saving the whites,” she noted.
Frillman added that they are adapting their pasta recipes to use fewer eggs. “By changing the shape of the noodles and utilizing equipment like an extruder, we can make pasta without eggs,” he stated. Depending on the duration of the egg shortage, they may have to make further changes to their menu. “We have a signature pappardelle dish, but if maintaining it becomes financially unfeasible due to its heavy egg yolk content, we might pivot to something like spaghetti or fettuccine, which doesn’t require eggs but is similarly textured,” he remarked.
Meanwhile, Stephanie Maynard, co-owner of Ox Hollow Farm in Roxbury, Connecticut, is experiencing an entirely different challenge: overwhelming demand.
The farm she runs with her husband produces not only eggs but also beef, pork, and vegetables, and currently boasts 950 laying hens with an additional 300 expected in March. Typically, winter is a slow period as they prepare for the busier spring and summer seasons, but this year, they are racing to ramp up egg production to meet the growing demand at local greenmarkets.
“People who usually buy their eggs from supermarkets are now turning to farmers’ markets due to the shortages,” Maynard noted, explaining that longstanding customers are increasing their orders while new customers are beginning to frequent their market stalls. “We’ve cultivated strong relationships with our customers. I recognize many of them by name and face, and now we’re seeing new shoppers who have never visited the market before,” she added.