FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) – Egg prices have continued to rise in the new year, a trend that was established at the end of 2022.
According to a report from the United States Department of Agriculture, the average carton of eggs in America was valued at about $4.25 last month.
According to the report, that price was ‘238% higher than the $1.79 price set in December 2021.’
But the pain isn’t just being felt as consumers decide whether they can skip eggs this week, it’s also hurting small businesses.
“I use eggs in everything,” said John Scheele, Cindy’s Diner’s bookkeeper.
The restaurant has been a Fort Wayne tradition since 1952, surviving a recession and housing market crash among other hardships. And Scheele says this egg boom will be no different.
“We’re going to have to raise prices because it’s not just the eggs, it’s everything that was raised,” Scheele said. “We’re doing well, customers understand.”
While raising prices is a difficult but simple solution to a restaurant’s woes, the question of why eggs are expensive is not so easy to crack.
“It comes down to a bunch of factors,” said Ben Hoffman, a farmer with Hoffman Farms.
Hoffman points to high food prices and bird flu. It says it started earlier this year around the world in places like China and hasn’t let up yet.
“The sheer amount of herds that are shrinking around the globe is much earlier than normal,” Hoffman said.
And state records agree, according to the CDC, about 60 million birds are affected in 47 states.
Allen County is among those affected in Indiana (along with Elkhart, Johnson, Greene, Daviess and Dubois).
As of Monday, the CDC reports that between three separate outbreaks, Allen County has more than 150 birds affected.
