‘Eggs were flying off the shelves.’ But they should return soon, experts say

Eggs, a staple item for many families, have been hard to find on California grocery store shelves during the coronavirus pandemic. But that should change soon, experts say.

“We expect that demand is starting to level off. The shelves are getting replenished,” said Marc Dresner, with the American Egg Board.

As the COVID-19 pandemic led people to rush to the store to buy essentials, including eggs, that drove both the supply of eggs down and the price of eggs up, said Brian Moscogiuri, who watches the markets for the publishing firm Urner Barry.

Over the last three weeks, prices for eggs essentially tripled, Moscogiuri said, but that didn’t stop buyers.

“Eggs were flying off the shelves,” he said.

People are home more now, so they’re cooking more, Dresner said. Three meals a day, seven days a week, and many of those meals include eggs, he said.

“People are also stress-baking, and this of course calls for eggs,” Dresner said. “People are asking me, “Why eggs?” ... They’re easy go-tos.”

United Egg Producers, a trade group that represents the industry, issued a statement acknowledging the increased demand for their product.

“United Egg Producers’ egg farmer-members are working tirelessly to assure the availability of safe, nutritious eggs for retail customers and consumers during this time of crisis and uncertainty,” the group said in the statement.

Both Dresner and Moscogiuri said people can expect to see more eggs hitting the shelves soon, and Dresner stressed that there isn’t an egg shortage.

“The egg supply is robust, and farmers are working really hard to keep up with the increase in demand,” he said.

Dresner said he expects demand for eggs will continue to stay high. With Easter coming up, this already is a peak season for egg producers, though Dresner and Moscogiuri said that Easter will likely not contribute to a spike in demand as families in much of the country are sheltering at home.

Moscogiuri warned that there could be some delay though in getting those eggs out to grocers because of packaging shortages. But beyond that issue with the supply chain, things appear to be improving, he said.

“It seems as least for now that the worst is over,” Moscogiuri said.

This story was originally published April 3, 2020 at 5:00 AM with the headline "‘Eggs were flying off the shelves.’ But they should return soon, experts say."