By Chris McCullough
With egg prices in the US rising by over 50% in 2024, and further hikes likely, the food commodity has become a red hot target for thieves.
And that’s exactly what has happened in Pennsylvania where thieves have stolen over 100,000 eggs worth over $40,000 in one go from a grocer.
Local police have confirmed the eggs were stolen from a truck at Pete & Gerry’s Organics in Greencastle sometime on February 1.
Egg price
Retailers and restaurants have increased their egg prices over the past year with a dozen eggs rising by 50% during the past year.
Now, with the threat of bird flu in parts of the US, egg prices are expected to rise again, hitting both consumers and retailers hard in the pocket.
A box of a dozen large Grade A eggs cost around $3.65 in November 2024, which is a rise of $1.51 in the same period a year earlier.
According to a recent United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food Price Outlook, retail egg prices increased by 8.4% in December 2024 and continue to experience volatile month-to-month changes.
USDA stated: “An outbreak of HPAI that began in 2022, with recent detections in January 2025, contributed to elevated egg prices by reducing the US egg-layer flock.
“HPAI continued to drive egg price increases in 2024. Egg prices in December 2024 were 36.8% higher than in December 2023 but still below peak prices in January 2023.
“Egg prices are predicted to increase 20.3% in 2025, with a prediction interval of 0.1 to 45.3%.”
Some eateries in US have started to increase eggs prices, including diner chain Waffle House which announced a $0.50 surcharge per egg for customers saying the move was a “temporary targeted surcharge tied to the unprecedented rise in egg prices”.
Bird flu
Emily Metz, American Egg Board president and CEO, said egg farmers were ‘valiantly’ fighting bird flu but the disease remains a huge risk to American flocks.
Focusing on prices Metz said: “Affordable food matters to everyone, and these ongoing outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) are putting strain on the entire egg production system, making it harder for affected egg farms to recover and get back to production quickly.
“That strain has resulted in some out-of-stocks and low supplies in egg cases in several regions and with specific retailers, as well as higher prices.
“More than ever, Americans want the nutrients and high-quality protein found in eggs. In fact, volume sales of eggs at retail have been up year-over-year for 22 consecutive four-week periods, even in the face of higher prices and market disruption.”
The CEO explained that demand for eggs at retail has been exceptionally high for a sustained period.
She added that failing to act quickly and identify new ways to fight HPAI could mean continued challenges for customers and consumers.
“While egg farmers are working to manage this disease and stabilise the supply of eggs, the extreme damage to US egg production results from a ‘perfect storm’ of circumstances,” she said.
Bird flu outbreaks in the US continue sporadically across the country. The latest data from USDA stated that, during the 30 days prior to February 4, 2025, a total of 80 commercial poultry flocks and 43 backyard flocks had been confirmed to have HPAI.
A total of 22.75 million birds were affected on these confirmed infected flocks.
Since the start of the outbreak on February 8, 2022, 153.66 million birds have been affected. HPAI has been detected in a total of 1,511 flocks in 51 states. Of those, 709 were commercial flocks and 802 were backyard flocks.
Ohio is one of the worst affected states with 39 affected commercial flocks and a total of 8,794,600 birds affected.
