Trump vowed to reduce inflation. Eggs didn’t get the memo

Washington: A shortage of eggs at the so-called “Soviet Safeway” on the corner of Corcoran and 17th streets in Washington, DC would not come as a surprise. For it to happen at the upmarket Whole Foods several blocks away; that’s another story.

At the Sunday markets in nearby Dupont Circle, farmers Ned and Eileen Dykes sold out of eggs at midday – as they do every weekend these days.

Maryland farmer Ned Dykes, 80, sells out of about 400 dozen eggs by midday at the Dupont Circle market each Sunday.Credit: Michael Koziol

“Oh yeah. If we had the eggs, we could sell 800 dozen,” says Ned, 80, as he packs down the stall for the day. The couple produce about 500 dozen eggs a week at their Twin Post Farm in Princess Anne, Maryland, nearly three hours’ drive away, and sell about 400 dozen at the Dupont market.

Two years ago, the eggs went for $US5 a dozen; now they are $US7 (just over $11). “And we’re the cheapest here,” Ned says.

Across the United States, a scarcity of eggs caused primarily by a bad strain of bird flu has sent prices skyrocketing and made them tricky to find.

Supermarkets have started imposing limits; the Whole Foods was restricting sales to three cartons a customer when this correspondent visited on Thursday morning. The shelves were still close to empty, and by afternoon they were completely bare.

US supermarkets are routinely selling out of eggs, despite the added expense.Credit: Michael Koziol

“We are currently experiencing difficulty sourcing eggs that meet our strict animal welfare standards,” a sign on the cabinet door said.

Earlier this month, Waffle House, a chain of 24-hour breakfast restaurants rooted in the American South, added a US50¢-per-egg surcharge across its nearly 2000 stores, saying it hoped the cost-covering move would be short-lived.

In New York, some corner bodegas are reportedly selling “loosies” of two or three eggs in a plastic bag because some customers can no longer afford the full dozen.

The ever-climbing price of eggs has become a symbol of ongoing inflation under the presidency of Donald Trump, who came to power promising to do something about the spiralling cost of living.

Egg prices at a grocery store in New York on February 12.Credit: Bloomberg

US inflation rose to 3 per cent in January from a year ago, with the consumer price index up 0.5 per cent for the month as the cost of groceries, fuel and rent increased. Egg prices jumped 15.2 per cent – the biggest monthly increase since 2015 – accounting for two-thirds of the lift in “food-at-home” costs, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said.

The average shelf price for a carton of a dozen eggs in US cities hit $US4.95 in January, up from $US2.04 in August 2023, and is set to keep rising. The wholesale price of eggs reached $US8 for a dozen, according to price tracker Expana, which should soon flow to consumers. Though supermarkets often sell them at a loss, sticker prices of $US9 and above have become commonplace.

Democratic congressman Ted Lieu, of California, told a committee hearing eggs were as expensive as $US12 when he recently went grocery shopping.

“Not only were the prices that high, but there were no eggs,” he said.

“That is leading the American people to realise that Donald Trump lied to them, and congressional Republicans are not focused on the issue the American people care about.”

The current outbreak of avian influenza began in February 2022, with about 160 million cases detected since then. Brian Moscogiuri, vice president of supplier Eggs Unlimited, told Fox News it was “the worst bird flu outbreak we’ve had in the last 10 years … potentially the worst bird flu outbreak we’ve ever had in the history of this country”.

The crisis has moved around the US based on wild bird migration, from California in the west to the Midwest states of Ohio and Indiana, and now the east, with cases recently found in Maryland, Virginia and Delaware.

“This is a really challenging virus,” says John Boney, an associate professor of poultry science at Penn State University. “When the birds are travelling through the flyaways [migration paths] and they’re stopping, that’s when the virus is introduced into environments. That’s why you see ebbs and flows.

A sign at the Pepper Pod restaurant in Newport, Kentucky, on February 13.Credit: AP

“What we have here is a sustained outbreak, meaning since 2022, we’ve had this virus somewhere in the US. Over time, that’s going to stress a system, and that’s what we’re seeing.”

For farmers like Ned Dykes, the virus means taking extra precautions to avoid exposure.

“When I go to town to get feed, I take a shower, change clothes. The shoes that I wear to town are different to what I wear on the farm,” he says.

For Trump, it’s a boiling issue he’ll need to watch.

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