U.S. egg prices have spiked to all-time highs for the third consecutive month. This increase arrives in the face of indications that inflation more broadly is starting to slow down. In March, the national average cost of a dozen large eggs reached its peak over the last year at $6.23. That was a close to 6% increase from the month prior. Consumers—and likely a good number of government officials—have felt the pain of soaring egg prices. This raised the alarm enough to trigger an anti-trust investigation into potential price-fixing by the top three egg producers.
The Trump administration was responsible for the investigation’s beginning last month, going after a few of the nation’s largest egg corporations. Cal-Maine Foods, for one, is responsible for a quarter of all U.S. egg consumption. One of the major reasons for this optimism was their own extraordinary windfall income of $1 billion over the first three quarters of the financial year. The company has confirmed the investigation is ongoing, and in an email response to us noted that it is fully cooperating.
This follows decreases in March when the consumer price index (CPI) fell by 0.1%. As inflation went on to be the top concern for most Americans. For example, the CPI for eggs has skyrocketed, with prices doubling in the last year alone. The inflation rate over the last 12 months is 2.4%, down from 2.8% in February.
Trump’s promise to make life more affordable resonates with voters. Soaring food costs have become a flashpoint election issue as we near the 2024 presidential contest. To make matters worse, many voters are blaming inflationary prices on President Biden’s economic policies, putting more focus and blame on food producers.
Egg prices are not just a temporary blip. This crisis is exposing the deep cracks in our corporate food system,” said Amanda Starbuck, research director of Food & Water Watch. This feeling is a product of the deep anger most consumers feel as they struggle with sky-rocketing prices at the grocery store.
In line with other industry leaders, Cal-Maine’s profits have recently skyrocketed, more than tripling compared to the same quarter last year. Now, they’re almost eight times what they were before the start of the bird flu outbreak in February 2022. Given the company’s enormous profits, it is reasonable to question if they are manipulating prices while production costs are increasing.
At the same time, consumers are suffering harm from the financial impact of exploding egg prices. At the same time, government agencies and advocacy organizations are monitoring every move that the investigation makes. The potential implications of these findings would be highly consequential not just for Cal-Maine, but the agriculture sector as a whole.