“Eggflation”: how the egg became a luxury product?

In the United States, it is a promotion that has not gone unnoticed so much that it has made the rounds of social networks. Walmart supermarkets displayed 18-unit egg trays at two dollars. The shelf photo, first posted on the store’s Facebook account in Kentucky, has generated thousands of comments. A resident of California, for example, specifies that the same box of 18 eggs (without mentioning whether it is from Walmart or another distributor) costs eleven dollars. The price is so low that some Internet users have doubts about the expiry date of the eggs, imagining that the time is very short.

This “enthusiasm” is indicative of an extremely tense situation for consumers wishing to buy eggs. Prices soared by 60% in a single year at the end of 2022, giving rise in the American press to a succession of puns around the term “egg” meaning egg in the language of Shakespeare, such as “eggcited”. The context itself prompted the creation of a neologism, namely “eggflation”, to understand the soaring price of eggs.

The goose that lays golden eggs

While the United States suffered even stronger inflation than in France last year, given 13.9% more expensive food products, eggs have become a real luxury product to the point that smuggling networks are organized. From now on, at the Mexican border, customs officers no longer intercept only drugs, but also eggs. Between October and December last year, seizures jumped 108%, according to Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Illegal transfers of raw eggs that took place as some supermarket chains moved to limit the number of purchases per household.

Eggs have become so expensive that the Internet is making fun of them with memes, making comparisons between exorbitant car prices or giving rise to humorous skits like this safe placed in the fridge to store eggs. Videos also imply that chickens could be stolen given the situation. Others draw a parallel with the “speakeasy”, these clandestine bars at the time when alcohol was resold under the coat in the United States because of the prohibition applied during the 20s.

The success of dried eggs

In the same way, social networks are also organizing (as usual) to find solutions. THE media Today has, for example, spotted the success of dehydrated eggs to freeze them, and therefore save money. In this case, they are cooked, often scrambled, before being dehydrated for several days and then reduced to powder. A preparatory method which is not without consequences on health because bacteria can develop during drying; eggs being food products particularly at risk because of salmonella.

However, producers sell eggs dried using freeze-drying rather than dehydration. And they are a hit with consumers. This technique allows the eggs to keep a certain texture and taste even after processing. The process consists of freezing the eggs between -23 and 40° before reheating the material slowly to eliminate the humidity.

“Eggflation”: why are eggs so expensive?

Unsurprisingly, avian flu is the number one reason why eggs are showing exorbitant prices on the other side of the Atlantic. Without presenting a comparable tariff situation, French laying hen farms were also affected by the disease last fall, with more than 770,000 poultry having been slaughtered since August. In the United States, 58 million birds have been killed in 47 states since bird flu was officially detected in early 2022.

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Added to this explanation is also that of the postponement of purchases on eggs, to the detriment of meat, which has become more expensive due to the impact of the soaring cost of energy and raw materials. According to the American farmers’ defense organization Farm Action, egg producers would also take the opportunity to inflate prices…

However, we should hear less about “eggflation” in the coming months. Encouraging signs show a reversal in the upward curve of egg prices. In the wholesale market, that is to say reserved for professionals, the price index fell a few days ago by 60% compared to the peak at the end of last year.