Shortly after the egg-centric Easter season, supermarket chains, most notably Walmart, ended the multi-month practice of featuring shell eggs prominently as loss leaders, which allowed retail prices to rise. Consumer demand fell, and continues to be limited, settling recently at a level not seen since prices spiked between May and July 2015 following an outbreak of avian influenza.
About 70 percent of all shell eggs are sold through retail channels. At present, retail outlets have little incentive to purchase more than basic coverage.
Wholesale shell egg prices continue to move lower as offers exceed buyer interest, the US Dept. of Agriculture said last week in its Egg Markets Overview. National prices for graded, large white shell eggs declined 17 percent and were the lowest since August 2017.
Flock sizes at US egg farms continue to increase, partly in response to animal welfare groups’ push for cage-free hens. Farmers traditionally reduce their flock sizes in the summer months. But producers this year are likely factoring into expansion plans the USDA’s projection of demand for 72 percent of all shell eggs to be from cage-free hens by 2025.
Moving forward, growth is likely to center on building the infrastructure for cage-free hens, but that process requires a significant capital expenditure and, typically, multiple years to complete. To take on such projects before sales numbers reflect demand gives some producers pause.
The flock size of layers housed conventionally has yet to decline. The total number of layers in the United States on April 1 was 387 million, up 3 percent from the previous year, of which 324 million layers produced table or market-type eggs.
Though restaurant chains featuring breakfast menus have influenced the move to cage free, more than half of cage-free egg purchases will come from the grocery sector. Kroger Co., Cincinnati, last year set a goal of transitioning to a fully cage-free egg supply chain by 2025 for its 2,782 stores. Trader Joe’s, Monrovia, California, which uses only cage-free eggs for its store brand, hopes to convert fully to cage-free egg sales nationwide by 2025.
Companies sourcing eggs as an ingredient are increasingly making cage-free commitments as well. Unilever, which has US headquarters in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, said this year it will convert all of its egg supplies to cage-free by 2025.
Meanwhile, egg product prices remain markedly higher than a year ago. Whole egg products last week were more than double a year earlier, and yolk products, which led price gains in October and November, remain 33 cents to $1.35 a lb. higher. Egg whites last week ranged from a little more than double a year ago (frozen) to nearly six times the May 2017 price (liquid). Dried egg white prices, which increased 63 percent from January to May, are $2.45 a lb. higher than a year ago.
Yolk product prices could resume leading price advances in the short term, an industry source said, noting pasteurized egg white values appear to be coming down as some food manufacturers have reformulated following price increases, lowering the demand.
