Prospects store for eggs at an H-E-B grocery retailer on Might 11, 2026 in Austin, Texas.
Brandon Bell | Getty Photos
Egg costs are lastly cooling in a welcome shift for shoppers.
However now a brand new problem is sending producers scrambling: they’ve too many eggs at a time when their enter prices are rising.
Because the market swings from final 12 months’s avian flu-driven scarcity to a rising oversupply, producers say decrease grocery retailer costs are masking the squeeze from price inflation.
“A 12 months in the past, all anyone might speak about was how costly eggs have been as a result of a variety of birds have been sadly misplaced,” mentioned Thomas Flocco, CEO of egg producer Pete & Gerry’s.
“We now have an oversupply scenario, which is why you are seeing in some instances a dozen eggs under a greenback,” Flocco mentioned.
Egg costs fell 44.7% year-over-year in March 2026, based on Bureau of Labor Statistics information, marking a pointy reversal from final 12 months’s spike in the course of the fowl flu outbreak. The downturn follows a interval of flock rebuilding, which trade officers say left producers cautious of renewed shortages.
The value collapse is creating new stress on margins at a time when producers can least afford it. Prices for inputs like feed, which spiked in 2022 and 2023, have been elevated for years, and now gas costs have additionally spiked as a result of battle in Iran.
“All of these price pressures are discovering their approach into our price construction,” Flocco mentioned. “About half of the price of a dozen premium eggs is feed. Diesel is a right away impression. We’ve got to drive to get these eggs.”
American Egg Board President and CEO Emily Metz echoed these considerations, nothing that feed, gas and labor prices “didn’t disappear” and proceed to weigh on producers whilst client demand returns and wholesale costs weaken.
The protein bump
The excellent news for producers is that demand is robust, based on Flocco, as consumers more and more prioritize protein of their diets.
Greater than 4 in 10 Individuals say they’re extra targeted on protein than they have been 5 years in the past, based on a brand new survey commissioned by Pete & Gerry’s. It additionally discovered two-thirds of Individuals mentioned they eat eggs weekly particularly for his or her protein, and plenty of view entire meals like eggs as extra nutritious than processed alternate options.
Customers looking for eggs on the grocery retailer currently have discovered them plentiful and at good costs. However for producers, even that sturdy demand has not been sufficient to negate oversupply.
“What we’re seeing out there in the present day is far more about provide restoration and timing shifts than any elementary change in consumption,” mentioned Sherman Miller, CEO of Cal-Maine Meals, the most important egg distributor within the U.S., in April.
Metz additionally mentioned the present worth weak spot is just not demand associated.
“[Prices] mirror provide rising quicker than demand can take up, pushed by flock restoration following [avian influenza], small farm development and improved productiveness,” mentioned Metz.
That has not stopped President Donald Trump from taking credit score for the drop in egg costs as he tries to advertise affordability forward of the midterm elections this fall.
“We obtained the costs down, approach down,” Trump mentioned Thursday. “Decrease than it was 4 years earlier than.”
