Why the prices of eggs continue to skyrocket, and when they drop
It's been time before the cost of the basic food in the kitchen descends.
Lately, he may have the impression that a "normal" trip to the grocery store is a distant memory. After the Empty shelves and drastic shortages During the Covid-19 pandemic, buyers are now faced with obstinate inflation which seems to increase the cost of essential elements of everyday, including eggs. Higher prices on such a must in the kitchen can be particularly painful, because this is not the type of item that you can easily exchange for something else. So why do egg prices continue to soar? Read the rest for more information on the reasons why they have become so expensive and when the tip will finally crack.
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The price of eggs has increased much more in the past year than current inflation.
No matter what you buy, the prices of the products you need have probably jumped in the past year. Unfortunately, keeping your refrigerator and your pantry in stock was a particularly difficult part of the problem. Even if the persistent increase in costs shows signs of slowdown and decline, the inflation of the grocery store has general inflation exceeded considerably, the prices of stores jumping from 12% until November 2022, compared to an overall increase of 7.1%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, according to CNN. AE0FCC31AE342FD3A1346EBB1F342FCB
But in the middle of the national blow on food budgets, the eggs have become a particularly dark aberrant value because their prices have skyrocketed to even higher peaks. Since January 2023, the cost of the basic food has been In addition to 11% Compared to November and almost 60% compared to the same era last year, reports CNN.
Consequently, many shocked buyers have been forced to seriously consider what they are put their carts . "I saw customers gravitate by buying organic eggs now from more conventional eggs, and in particular now, half-dozen. Prices have quadrupled in about six or seven months", " Jose Filipe , a grocery owner in New Rochelle, New York, told CBS News.
Egg prices have jumped more than most items due to a serious problem affecting the poultry industry.
Although a large part of the past year was spent using inflation to blame for the cost of almost everything, egg producers are faced with their own serious dilemma that has increased prices. Since the beginning of 2022, a highly virulent version of avian flu - also known as the bird flu - has spread in the poultry industry, reports CNN. The epidemic has cost the lives of more than 58 million birds and climbing, radically Reduce production capacity of the poultry industry.
"It is a disturbance of the offer, things like 'Act of God'," Brian Mosgiuri , a global trade strategist at Eggs Unlimited, told CNBC. He added that the situation is "unprecedented", saying: "It is a bit of chance that inflation takes place [more widely] during the same period."
A look at the numbers can show how much The problem is currently . In early December, data from the American agriculture department showed that there were roughly 308 million hens weighted with eggs At work in the United States "" Generally, you need approximately one bird per person to have a supply and close demand for American consumption, "Mosgiuri told Vox." So we have 331 million people in this country? You can see right there, there is a huge shortfall. "
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The current bird flu epidemic is worse than in previous years.
This is not the first time that avian flu has shot the poultry industry in the United States an epidemic in 2015 killed 50.5 million birds , according to the centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). But this year, the agency says that the tension of the virus is Much more deadly , killing 90 to 100% of the chickens which he infects in as little as two days, by CNBC. Once a farm reports an infection, federal rules also force them to eliminate their healthy birds even to stop the spread of the virus.
Experts say that part of the problem is that seasonal migration can take into account the spread of the virus. While wild birds traveling north or south come into contact with poultry in farms, the bird flu can quickly make its way in cooperatives - which has become more likely that the laws of certain states require that Birds can move freely, reports Vox.
All of this was combined to make the last particularly serious epidemic. "In 2015, the virus stopped once the weather was hot and spring migration ended, and repopulation was fully able to start. [In 2022], it returns to the 'Fall with winter migration, "Mosgiuri told Vox in Vox.
It can take a little time for egg prices to drop, but the worst can already have passed.
Even if the poultry industry continues to deal with the effects of the flu -in -law epidemic in progress, there is a good chance that we can have already seen the worst Regarding egg prices. The holiday season generally increases the demand for eggs and increases wholesale prices, Brian Earnest , main economist for animal proteins in Cobank, told CNN. But at the beginning of 2023, there could be a softening on the supply voltage.
"Based on current commercial values and market conditions, it seems that the market has finally reached its peak", " Karyn Rispoli , Urne Barry, editor -in -chief of the Price Current egg for the database on the food market, told CNN on December 27.
But do not expect the changes to be perceptible overnight. "There is generally a delay of two to three weeks between wholesale prices and what consumers see in terms of retail prices," Rispoli told Vox. "However, this assumes that the retailers transmit these costs lower. Since many retailers sold eggs below costs when the market skyrocketed to record summits last month, they can be slower to react in descending."
However, any continuous improvement still depends on the future propagation of the epidemic, which is at best unpredictable. "Hopefully the repopulation continues, and more production is going up, and we no longer see [Bird flu] while we return to this spring migration, and the worst is behind us," Mosgiuri told Vox . "But we really don't know."