Are ~~egg~~ producers inflating prices ~~during the bird flu outbreak~~ to boost profits?
Yes
this post was submitted on 28 Feb 2025
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There is absolutely no real proof of this.
But the answer is yes.
Yes
A rare inversion of Betteridge's law of headlines is "whenever someone questions whether or not the rich and powerful are exploiting everyone, the answer is yes"
Again? Probably.
In Trump's America, that's entirely plausible.
It wouldn’t surprise me if they were increasing prices not to take profits and keep them, but to increase profits and purchase politicians. You know… exactly like what’s been happening with this most recent “inflation,” we’ve had.
Just a reminder that a scant couple years ago, egg prices skyrocketed under claims of inflation..and were cut in half almost overnight when Harris threatened RICO investigations.
Which also had supermarkets like Kroger coming forward to admit to gouging (to prevent investigations into other shit they were doing)
They did last time.
Yeah people act like this hasn't been going on for years at this point.
If true, Republicans also voted for it.
That is what zero regulations and zero enforcement gets you which is exactly what Trump embodies when gutting regulations and federal funding and jobs for enforcement agencies.
People have to understand that if the price is too high, they can just not buy it.
It is as simple as that. As long as you buy, it is not too expensive. Just stop eating eggs.
What you're saying is true in fact, but I feel like you're letting the price gougers off the hook a little. Eggs are popular because they're versatile, nutritionally dense and traditionally cheap. Eggs are almost the best breakfast kids can have before school because they help with focus and keep them full. There really isn't a replacement at the same price point. I don't think we should expect them to be so cheap that we rely on animal cruelty, but they shouldn't be a luxury item either.
EDIT: to clarify, it's the protein and fat that help with focus and fullness, not eggs specifically.
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And people have to understand that Marie Antoinette said the same line and it started the french revolution.
Food too expensive? Just don't eat.
Housing too expensive? Just don't sleep.
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Narrator: "they are"
Lawmakers and advocacy groups are calling for a government investigation into potential monopolistic practices.
lol. this government believes in free market and corporate profits. if found guilty of monopolistic practices the top execs will immediately be offered more tax breaks, handouts and/or high profile government positions
Remember 2023? Pepperidge Farm remembers.
Egg Producers Accused of Price Gouging After 718% Profit Revealed
100% they are.
I don’t know truth as I one saw YouTube Videos of grocery stores
Egg prices for a dozen… in Canada are around $4.75 (Canadian) In Mexico $53-$70 pesos… or around $2.50-$3.50 US
Edit: after quick search looks like Mexico avoided bird flu because they vaccinate their chickens… didn’t realize we are that strong against vaccination we won’t even vax the chix
The vaccination effort would increase man hour costs and the cost of the vaccines. Can’t do anything that might affect profits.
Yeah because all farm hands are American citizens that make reasonable wages right?
They voted to make sure that they all are.
This article dances around profiteering claims but doesn’t dig deep enough into corporate practices.
🐱🐱
Are capitalists being capitalist? More on that at 10.
Nah, it's the chickens holding the eggs hostage while they demand equal rights and better pay.
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I BOUGHT my eggs from small local farmers but they have been charging market prices. I asked a few of them why. One said if he didn't that people would swoop in and buy all his inventory and likely resell it. Another, who ALSO has not been affected by bird flu said it is an investment for IF he loses his flock. So now I don't buy eggs and have not been to a breakfast diner in about a year. I have actually ceased from eating out completely and purchase my food mostly from local farms and cut out meat. My cholesterol, sugar and BP have all greatly improved. Who knew, less is more. I am still annoyed that local farmers are keeping up with the market. The local Amish sold "pun'kins" to Walmart at .50 a piece which Walmart then sold for up to $8. At the Amish stand, they were selling them for $8.
I'm sure if you offered to buy an entire field of pumpkins they would work with you on the price. It's sort of how trade works.
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Got 6 chickens last year, the wife said we probably spent too much decking out their living space. I say probably, but they're more pets for me to have, the 6 eggs a day is just a nice bonus.
Smash cut to this year: suddenly my "investment" is going to be paid off much sooner 😅
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A DIY chicken coop is starting to look like a goldmine. It would pay for itself in a month or two. If you can repurpose some skids / pallets you can build one really cheap. Chicken feed doesn't cost much.
I have experience with backyard chickens. Its a wonderful experience, chickens are surprisingly cool critters. And you will get the best eggs you've ever had. But you won't be saving any money lol. Still worth it.
at this point you actually probably will unless feed prices have really gone up that high.
It entirely depends on your infrastructure. I was house sitting a large estate once that basically had 0 upkeep costs for their chicken as they'd go and find most of their own food and there were no natural predators nearby. It was literally free eggs sort of deal.
People who have rice fields for example have 0 upkeep ducks that just go to the field and eat all of the critters there so not only you get free eggs and duck your rice maintenance is easier!
Every person I've ever talked to who's done this has said they regretted it.
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If you want to tell, look at the stock on the shelves.
If the shelves are full of eggs they've inflated the prices.
There should be a supply and demand problem for prices to raise organically.
They most probably are. Whenever there is high uncertainty in prices, producers will maximise profit by selling everything at the upper limit and use something like "safety buffer" or "restocking at a more expensive rate" bla as a bullshit excuse. Has been happening in Turkey for the last five years basically across every daily household product range and hospitality sector.
My big question is that if a whole flock is killed when bird flu is discovered, why are JUST egg prices going up? My local grocery store recently had a sale on chicken but the eggs are in short supply and cost nearly 10 times what they used to a few months ago? Shouldn't chicken meat be expensive too? Or do I not know anything about poultry farming and bird flu?
My understanding is that there are different breeds of chickens used for eggs and meat.
This came up earlier in the outbreak for two reasons:
-
Egg-laying chickens apparently take longer to age to the point where they produce eggs than meat chickens do before they are killed, so it takes longer to replace the producing stock of chickens.
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Meat chickens are apparently more resistant to the present strain than egg chickens, and are not impacted as badly.
That did make me hope that one could try to produce a hybrid egg chicken that could maybe also be more resistant.
kagis
Ah, this mentions both factors. Thought I'd need to dig up an article for each.
https://www.cbsnews.com/boston/news/egg-prices-shortage-chicken-question-everything/
"It takes 20 weeks to get a chicken to egg-laying age," Hall explained. "The main problem is that it's going to take so long to get that replacement flock."
So when a farm has to destroy egg-laying chickens because of the spread of bird flu, it takes at least five months to get new hens to that egg-laying age again.
It's a formula for trouble. Fewer egg-laying chickens means fewer eggs in the grocery store. Less supply with more demand means higher prices.
But it's not the case for chicken meat. Why? First off, eggs and the chicken meat you buy at the store come from two different kinds of chickens.
Two types of chickens
The chicken breasts, wings and thighs that fill the refrigerators and freezers at Hall's farm come from a "meat" chicken. It's also known as a "broiler", and it's bred differently than a hen.
"A meat chicken is much wider, grows quicker," Hall said.
A broiler is bred for rapid growth. It goes from a little chick to processing in less than two months, so they are very quickly replaced. Because of their short lifespan, there is also less time to be infected with bird flu. Therefore, supply for broiler chickens hasn't been an issue.
Egg-laying chickens, or hens, are far more susceptible to bird flu. According to the USDA, of the 160 million birds that have been killed during the outbreak, 77% of them are egg-laying hens. The hens simply live longer, so they have more exposure.
At Nallie Pastures, egg prices have held at $8 a dozen. Hens there have all remained healthy and business is healthy too.
EDIT: Hmm. I take back the bit about meat chickens being more genetically-vulnerable. It sounds from this article like it's just that the need to keep them alive longer to reach egg production makes them more vulnerable, and other articles I dig up say the same thing. I probably just misunderstood some earlier article that said that egg chickens were more vulnerable to mean that they were more genetically-vulnerable.
prices surged from under $2 to nearly $5 per dozen.
Where the fuck does this editor live? Cuz where I am, they went from $2 to $12.
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Simply don't eat eggs smh my head
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