US egg purchases plunge, prices rise amid shortages in 2025

Rising egg prices amid shortages

The egg industry is currently facing a significant shortage, which has driven egg prices to soar by 28% year-over-year (YoY) during the first 13 days of January. According to Earnest Scanner Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) product data, this marks the highest YoY price increase since mid-2023. The average price per Universal Product Code (UPC) purchased has reached a record high of $6.30 across the top 15 egg brands.

This spike in prices coincides with a notable decline in the total quantity of eggs purchased. Purchases have dropped by 15% YoY over the same period. While steeper prices might be a cause, in some cases, consumers are buying less because they have to. Some stores are limiting egg purchases per customer to manage supply during the shortage.

Understanding the price and demand relationship

Earnest’s data shows a strong historical inverse correlation of -0.5 between the quantity of eggs sold and their average price since January 2021. Simply put, price increases coincide with diminished quantities sold and vice versa. This correlation has intensified to -0.6 since May 2023 amid the inflationary environment and the recent egg shortage.

The current egg shortage is attributed to several factors. These include avian flu outbreaks, supply chain disruptions, and increased feed and labor costs. The avian flu in particular has significantly reduced egg-laying chicken populations.

About Earnest’s egg shortage data

Figures on the US egg shortage come from Earnest Scanner Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) product data. Track share of shelf, predict revenue surprises, and drill down into brand and category level performance by household demography across thousands of brands and hundreds of manufacturers.

Scanner Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) data is sourced from thousands of retail stores and millions of underlying US households across grocery and drugstore chains. Available exclusively to investors.