Some stores have none, others plenty, at all kinds of prices. Chalk it up to the complexities of how a once-ubiquitous staple arrives on shelves.
On Saturday morning in Culver City, Calif., Marie Hernandes finally found her eggs. A friend had asked for a vanilla birthday cake, so all week after work, she’d visited multiple stores — Ralphs, Target, Walmart — only to find the eggs sold out. Finally, an early-morning run to Costco landed her two 24-packs at $7.69 each.
“I might as well get more,” she said. “I don’t want to spend more time without eggs.”
Grocery stores 20 minutes away had wildly different selections. In Inglewood at a Northgate González Market, a family-owned Mexican chain with 43 locations in Southern California, eggs priced at $7.99 had sold out by 11 a.m., leaving a dozen large eggs from a different farm for $11.19, with few takers.
At an Aldi nearby, Muriel Stubbs grabbed a dozen eggs for $7.99 for her family of five, the cheapest she could find, which still rendered them a luxury reserved for “whenever I get paid,” she said.
Avian influenza has left Americans to navigate a seemingly random array of shortages, available brands and price points as they hunt for eggs at various stores. The head-spinning increases in egg prices are driving renewed calls for scrutiny of consolidation in the egg industry. And for consumers, the crisis is exposing the complexities of how a once-ubiquitous staple arrives in stores.
A few aspects of the supply chain can help explain customers’ wildly inconsistent shopping experiences. During a shortage, grocers have limited options for keeping eggs in stock. They can buy eggs on the wholesale market, which commands high prices, and then decide how much of that cost to pass on to customers. Bigger retailers can use their larger matrix of contracted suppliers to do similar juggling. Or grocers can keep prices low and set purchase limits to counter increased demand, limited supplies or both.