D.C. grocery stores limit egg purchases amid avian flu outbreak
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Eggs are getting more expensive and harder to find at grocery stores. Photo: Stefani Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images
If you think the egg aisle looks emptier — and more expensive — you're not alone. A severe bird flu outbreak and other factors are causing soaring prices and scarcity nationwide.
Why it matters: Some grocery stores around D.C. are limiting egg purchases — if the stores even have eggs — creating headaches for shoppers.
The big picture: Grocery eggs recently hit a record high nationwide, around $6-$9 for a dozen large. Blame supply and demand.
- According to Expana, bird flu claimed over 20 million laying hens in the fourth quarter, and the outbreak coincided with the peak holiday baking season. Severe winter weather and western wildfires further limited availability.
- According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, eggs sold at grocery stores are safe for human consumption.
Zoom in: Even if egg aisles aren't empty, as some were over the holidays, grocers are still limiting sales. Certain Trader Joe's, Harris Teeter and Whole Foods locations in the D.C. area have signs up asking customers to exercise restraint when buying eggs.
- At Whole Foods in Glover Park, for example, customers are limited to three dozen eggs, which clock in around $5 per carton for the 365 Organic brand.
The intrigue: Local farm markets are more reliable — even outside the spring/summer peak laying season — and small operators can more easily protect their flocks.
- Plus, shorter supply chains and the farms' free-roaming birds mean you won't see the same price hikes associated with the rising cost of chicken feed, factory labor and transportation.
- There are currently no confirmed reports of avian flu among commercial flocks in the DMV.
What they're saying: "If it's not impacting me, I'm not going to raise prices," Dana Boyle of Garners Produce tells Axios. Her Virginia farm, which sells eggs for $7 dozen year-round at FreshFarm markets, takes precautions against bird flu by netting their pens at night.
Between the lines: Chefs and foodies have long prized local eggs for their superior taste and rich coloring — an appetizing look factory farms can cheat-replicate with turmeric in the feed.
- When supermarket eggs went for 99 cents a dozen, $7 farm eggs seemed like a splurge — and a barrier to entry. But now with comparable prices, there's even more incentive to shop local and support small farms.
- FreshFarm reps say egg prices generally fall between $6-$8 among their vendors.