Historically high egg prices may be attributed, in part, to price gouging from top companies, according to the U.S. farm group Farm Action, which asserts that The Federal Trade Commission should investigate, reports Reuters.
Despite a USDA report indicating the price of eggs has shown signs of easing, consumers face high sticker prices. The price of a dozen eggs has increased by 60 percent to $4.25 in December compared to the year before, reports Axios.
Data from Instacart shows that prices across the country tend to vary between $4.24 to $9.73 for a dozen eggs.
Egg prices have surged since the avian influenza outbreak began in February 2022, coupled with other inflationary pressures. The outbreak has killed around 60 million birds, 41 million of which were egg-laying hens. Egg farmers are recovering, but an average of six percent fewer hens are laying eggs on these farms, according to Emily Metz, American Egg Board president and CEO.
The dramatic price swings for the products are arousing suspicion from many in the country. In a letter to FTC chair Lina Khan, Farm Action urged the antitrust regulator to examine record-high profits from top egg companies to ensure the extent of the price increases is justified.
Cal-Maine Foods, a company that controls 20 percent of the retail egg market, experienced quarterly sales up 110 percent and gross profits up more than 600 percent over the same quarter the year before, according to a December filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company said the record sales resulted from decreased supply across the country, but to date, no avian flu has been detected on its farms.
"We want the FTC to dig in and see if consumers are being price gouged," said Basel Musharbash, an attorney with Farm Action. Full Story
Related: Bird Flu Causes Egg Prices to Surge; Inflationary Pressures Affect Specialty Food Industry