As bird flu keeps egg prices climbing, some stores set limits in Massachusetts
READING - As egg prices continue to climb, some grocery stores in Massachusetts are limiting how many customers can buy. The combination of bird flu and inflation might drive up egg prices by another 20% this year, according to the USDA.
Some states that escaped the avian flu outbreak last year are now getting hit. The virus killed more than 20 million egg-laying chickens in the U.S. last quarter, data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture shows.
Bird flu impact on eggs
On store shelves, consumers are seeing the impact of bird flu spreading across the country, making the scramble for eggs a real challenge for shoppers.
At Market Basket locations in Burlington and Reading, customers are being asked to limit their eggs to two cartons per family.
"They said limit two and I really couldn't find any brown eggs, they're all white eggs," said shopper Ken Miller. "I have a diet that needs protein and it's one of my sources of protein. So now I have to, I don't know, go to something else."
"They're getting expensive," said shopper Gail Sapanaro, "because my son wants me to get the pasteurized eggs."
At Trader Joe's stores in Somerville and Brookline, eggs were nowhere to be found by Sunday afternoon, as customers bought up the limited supply early.
Egg price impact on restaurants
The price for farm-level eggs jumped 134% from December 2023 to December 2024, according to the USDA. And those prices have only continue to go up.
Restaurants are feeling the pinch too.
"We only get a couple of days' notice of, 'Oh hey, guess what, there's an egg shortage and your eggs are going to double or triple in price,'" said Libby White from J&M Diner in Framingham. "When it goes from $35 a case to $68, it's like, ugh."
White's cost for eggs has already gone up. However, she has been able to get eggs from several distributors and not pass the cost on to her customers.
"We try really hard not to pass that along to people," said White. "Because we hope that it's just a short stretch where it might be a little big challenging. So it's something that we eat the cost of and hope that it's just temporary."