Egg-flation Poaching your Wallet?

SGH Wealth Management’s “Read What I’m Reading” Apr. 2025 | Apr. 15th, 2025

With Easter around the corner, I had no option but to write about… eggs. In January 2025, the average price for a dozen Grade A large eggs in the United States reached a record high of $4.95, marking a +230% rise over the last 4 years.

So what’s going on? An avian influenza plague roared through the commercial hen population, apparently starting with turkeys, then moving to dairy cows, then to chickens. In December alone, some 23.2 million birds were killed to prevent the virus from spreading, taking their laying ability permanently offline. Then by early February 2025, supply & demand had shifted dramatically, with only about 10 suppliers offering eggs amid a surge of 200 bids from buyers.

With Easter just days away, your beloved deviled eggs and egg salad might just become the new luxury items on the holiday menu.

But the laying population has started to recover about half of the losses in just three months, now with over 285 million birds across the U.S. farming sector, down from 304 million at the end of last year. The report notes that stores are beginning to advertise eggs at $4.00 a dozen, compared with wholesale prices over $8.00 in February. Grocery supplies are nearly back to normal, and as more hens reach laying age over the coming weeks, the Easter price squeeze that some anticipated may not materialize after all.

*Insights from CIO Sam Huszczo, CFA on maintaining composure during market volatility in this recent Bloomberg article: