East Texans see egg prices drop following reduced demand

TYLER, Texas (KLTV) - The prices of certain grocery items have begun to decline. If you’ve been to the grocery store lately, you might have noticed a change in the cost of eggs. Prices have gone down significantly since the record highs in January.

The record high prices in January were a result of the avian flu outbreak wiping out a significant amount of egg producing poultry. Supplies were low. But as producers worked to rebuild, “Now we see the fruits of that where egg producers are producing more eggs.” said Texas A&M AgriLife Extension economist David Anderson.

But now demand is down. He says this is due to the end of Easter and baking season.

Prices are also affected by the consumer response back in January.

“Record high prices tell us to do something. That’s a marketed work and high prices tell producers to produce more and it tells us consumers to buy less, both of which to bring down prices.”

The USDA reported that national average wholesale prices were over $5 per dozen back in January. And now, they are at 84 cents. Anderson says that’s the lowest it’s been since July 2021.

January’s retail price was $4.82, and now have dropped to around $1.08.

And local bakeries like ‘Get Baked by Christina’ are feeling the effects of the change. Owner Christina Alvardo says she’s now able to buy more eggs at a time.

“A pack of 60 was $25 and now it went back down to $9 which is a huge difference for us and ... since we’re a custom bakery and we do everything by hand, we rely on eggs a lot. We have eggs in everything we make, so every cent counts.”

As supplies continue to rise and the demand stay low, predictions suggest that these prices may be here to stay for the next few months.

“But 84 cents in the wholesale market is pretty low, and so you know that will lead to maybe slowing that production growth a little bit.” said Anderson.

With supplies increasing, Anderson says production is still not fully back to where it was before the avian flu outbreak in February of last year.

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