62 • URNER BARRY'S REPORTER / VOL. 18, NO. 4 / FALL 2023
Article contributed by
Emily Metz,
President & CEO,
American Egg Board
Eggs are always worth it…
It's time to start truly valuing eggs
First, the good news: we have not had a
bird flu detection on a commercial egg
farm since December. Our farms have
recovered, flocks have been replenished
and supply has been restored-a feat,
I might add, that egg producers to
their immense credit accomplished
swiftly and masterfully. We're not
letting our guard down, and biosecurity
remains a top priority, but there's good
reason for optimism.
As a result-inflation and supply chain
challenges notwithstanding-prices have
come down. In fact, according to USDA,
the wholesale price for Midwest Large is
currently $1.12 per carton, down nearly 80%
from its $5.30 peak the week of December
30. At retail, according to our latest Nielsen
data, for the four weeks ending June 17, the
average price of a dozen eggs in equalized
dozens (EQ) was $2.43. That's down nearly
50% from a $4.65 high in January, and,
coincidentally, the exact average EQ price
Unless you spent the first half of the year
vacationing on the moon, you probably
noticed the price of eggs was a popular
topic. It's been a bumpy ride for egg
producers, who on top of the monumental
challenge of protecting their flocks from
bird flu also had to contend with public
outrage about prices over which they
frankly had little to no control. But what
we can control, and have not done a
great job of controlling, is expectations;
not about how much eggs should cost,
but, specifically, deeply entrenched
consumer expectations about how much
eggs are worth.
we saw in March of 2022. This is good
news for egg lovers, and it's good news for
our retail customers, because shoppers are
now buying more eggs-with EQ volume
sales up for the second consecutive month
per Nielsen.
Now, interestingly, our data also shows
that more than half of the eggs sold in
May and June were sold on promotion.
This should come as a surprise to no one.
There was the matter of excess Easter
inventory in April to start with. Beyond that,
eggs are a proven shopping trip driver,
and they're correlated with significantly
larger basket size. When conventional eggs
are in the basket, total purchase amount
nearly doubles.
That said, the past year's ordeal taught us
many things, and one of those lessons is
about expectations. According to Nielsen,
volume EQ sales of eggs in 2022 remained
essentially flat year-over-year. Consumers
continued to buy eggs as always; they just
weren't happy about the price. That it was
happening in an inflationary environment
where the price of everything else had
increased, too, did not help matters. And it
became abundantly clear that decades of
positioning eggs as an economy staple had
a part to play in the ensuing commotion.
Indeed, what was lost in the discussion and
absent from all the media coverage was
any recognition that eggs are valuable,
and those of us who market eggs bear
some responsibility for this. For its part,
the American Egg Board has leaned into
affordability messaging and economy
positioning for years in our marketing
campaigns and communications. This was
a competitive advantage for the category,
until recently, when it became a liability.
The fact is that we have been inadvertently
cheapening an extraordinary product.
The "incredible" slogan has stood the
test of time because it's true. There is no
more perfect protein than the egg. In fact,
the complete protein of eggs is often the
standard against which food scientists
"The 'incredible'
slogan has stood the
test of time because
it's true. There is no
more perfect protein
than the egg."
©Yuliya Gontar / Shutterstock.com