NEW YORK (AP) 鈥 Small business owners that rely on eggs for their products are facing sticker shock because the usually reliable staple is in short supply.
of chickens a month, causing U.S. egg prices to skyrocket. , eclipsing the previous record of $4.82 set two years earlier and more than double the low of $2.04 that was recorded in August 2023. The Agriculture Department predicts prices will soar another 20% this year.
Most owners are taking the increase in stride, looking at it as just one of many hurdles they constantly face. But if the problem persists, they could be forced to raise prices or adjust their products.
Liz Berman is the owner and sole proprietor of The Sleepy Baker in Natick, Massachusetts. She specializes in custom, from-scratch cakes but also sells cupcakes, cookies, pies and other baked goods.
Eggs are just one of the baking ingredients experiencing price shocks. Items such as cocoa powder and butter have gone up as well. And price isn't the only issue.聽
鈥淚t鈥檚 not just the cost of eggs, right? It鈥檚 also just the availability,鈥 she said. She prefers to buy medium-sized white shelled eggs, buying a box with 18 dozen eggs, but two weeks ago those were unavailable, so she had to buy brown eggs in individual cartons of 12.聽
鈥淚t sounds kind of silly, but when I I鈥檓 the sole proprietor and I have a huge volume of work, to have to take a dozen of eggs out of my walk-in at a time as opposed to a flat of eggs, it鈥檚 just it鈥檚 a pain,鈥 she said.
She doesn't think prices will ease anytime soon. Cocoa powder prices have been elevated for years.
鈥淚 think ultimately I鈥檓 going to have to increase my prices, which is hard because that鈥檚 going to mean that there鈥檚 a category of customer that won鈥檛 order from me anymore,鈥 she said.聽
In Princeton, New Jersey, John Nachlinger, owner of the Bad Cookie Company, is imposing a temporary 25 cent per cookie surcharge to help mitigate added costs.聽
鈥淎s cookies are already a tight-margin food, these increases have really hurt our bottom line,鈥 Nachlinger said. He said he doesn't want to permanently raise prices or adjust the size of his cookies since he hopes the egg situation is temporary. 鈥淲e want to bring value to our customers," he said.
At Daisies, a pasta restaurant in Chicago, chef/partner Joe Frillman and chef/partner Leigh Omilinsky haven't raised prices but are thinking of adjusting menu items.
Omilinsky said she is thinking of adding more vegan and egg-free deserts to the menu and has been working more with flax seeds. She said the shortage has made her more conscious of the ingredients she is using and wasting less.
鈥淵ou know, if we need egg yolks we are absolutely saving those whites,鈥 she said.聽
Meanwhile, Frillman said the restaurant has shifted to making pastas that use less eggs.
鈥淲e鈥檝e just changed the shape of the noodle,鈥 he said. 鈥淲e use an extruder which is a piece of equipment that allows us to basically extrude pasta without eggs.鈥
Depending on how long the egg shortage lasts, they could adjust menu items too, he said.聽
鈥淲e have a pappardelle on our menu that鈥檚 been on since day one,鈥 he said. 鈥淚f this gets to the point where it鈥檚 just cost prohibitive, it鈥檚 very egg yolk heavy, we would then transfer to something like a spaghetti or a fettuccine that is a similar noodle that we can make without eggs.鈥
Meanwhile, Stephanie Maynard, co-owner of Ox Hollow Farm in Roxbury, Connecticut, faces a different issue: skyrocketing demand.聽
The farm she owns with her husband produces beef, pork, poultry, eggs and vegetables. They have 950 laying hens, with 300 more coming in March. The winter is generally a quieter time as the farm prepares for busy spring and summer months, increasing the inventory on hand until it is ready to sell. But this year, they're rushing to increase egg production for customers at greenmarkets.聽
People who might normally buy eggs at supermarkets are turning to greenmarkets due to the shortages, and regular customers are increasing their orders just to make sure they have eggs, she said.
鈥淲e have developed a rapport with our customers. I know a lot of them by name and face,鈥 she said. 鈥淎nd now you鈥檙e seeing people that you鈥檝e never seen attend a market before. So I'm drawing a lot of new customers in to get eggs at the market.鈥
