Bakeries can't beat egg prices, so your cake may cost more

Flour Bakery in Boston can’t make much with just its namesake ingredient; eggs are in just about everything from pies and cakes to brioche bread.

Flour Bakery in Boston can’t make much with just its namesake ingredient; eggs are in just about everything from pies and cakes to brioche bread. With bird flu slamming into egg supplies and driving up prices, owner Joanne Chang said she’s charging 50 cents more for egg sandwiches and quiches.

“We held out for as long as we could,” she said.

Egg prices have soared amid major shortages because of avian influenza. The ongoing outbreak began in 2022 and has affected more than 162 million birds, according to the U.S. Agriculture Department, causing many farmers to cull their flocks. More than 27 million birds have been lost because of the virus so far this year alone, the American Egg Board trade group estimates.

A dozen large grade-A eggs hit an average of $4.95 in January, federal data shows, surpassing the last peak of $4.82 in January 2023. In between, prices dipped — last January, the average was just $2.52 — and businesses and consumers are now feeling whiplash.

“You see fluctuations, but you can’t adjust your prices every single time,” Chang said. She estimated paying $43 for a case — 15 dozen, or 180 eggs — as recently as December. Last week, that bill swelled to $87. She said her supplier has begun sending extra large eggs instead of large ones, which are ordinarily the most common size.

https://www.nbcnews.com/business/economy/bakeries-cant-beat-egg-prices-cake-may-cost-rcna192260

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