Farm Action, US has a well-sourced letter explaining that bird flu is being used as an excuse by the dominant egg producers to keep flock sizes small and reap above-market profits.
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Among other things, it shows that the largest egg farmers are consolidating market power; and they are using avian flu as an excuse to flex their market power and make massive windfall profits.
Cal-Maine Foods, one of the largest egg producers in the country, reported an almost doubling of revenue over last year, and a whopping 574% increase in profits, and attributed this increase to avian flu.
Same thing happened with pandemic pricing and then once they figured out people would pay the higher prices, they kept raising them. Supply and demand isn’t a thing anymore. It’s what the market will bear. Which would be less of an issue if they shared their profits with labor but of course not.
And it's not just eggs. None of what had price hikes during lockdown (paper goods, milk, pet supplies, etc.) has come down in price, even without supply chain interruptions. Tariffs are going to cause further hikes, some of which will be legit, most of which will not.
What I find fascinating about the egg prices this time around is that the organic free range brands prices have stayed exactly the same… and now they’re the cheap option.
I have anecdata that it is absolutely not bird flu, because living in bumfuck Tennessee is bad for many things but IS good for farm co-ops and the local egg prices have not surged at all, let alone to grocery egg levels.
I think this was largely true until recently, but in the past few months bird flu has been hitting layers very hard. So it plays a role now — not clear how much of a role.
As you will note in the post you are responding to, I am not saying it does not play a role. I am saying that the role is minor compared to the price fixing.
What's the likelihood that the egg cartels will eventually cut a deal with Trump to suddenly lower prices and improve his reputation (while still keeping prices high compared to last year)?
Pardon my ignorance, but is this NOT the exact thing Kamala was talking about implementing were she to win? Some law that would fine the shit out of companies/ban practices that were found to be illegally price-gouging?
If I’m not mistaken, isn’t this like price gouging?
And wasn’t this one of the things Harris was going to fight to have legislation against that she would’ve signed into law?
I seem to remember hearing her talk about this having anti-price gouging legislation in her stump speeches.
A case in point this morning: Trader Joe’s large free-range white eggs are $4.99. Same sort eggs at Ralph’s are “on sale” for $7.99, regular price $8.99. Trader Joe’s buys from local smaller farms.
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https://farmaction.us/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Final_FarmAction_FTC_DOJ_EggPricesLetter.pdf
(Source: Cal Maine Foods Fiscal Report, Q4 2023 https://calmainefoods.gcs-web.com/news-releases/news-release-details/cal-maine-foods-reports-results-fourth-quarter-and-fiscal-year)
It’s the fact that bird flu provides an excuse for massive corporations to reap unheard of profits by working together to fix prices.
The proof is in the profits.
The organic cage-free brown eggs were about a dollar less.
Either one is way too much. But yeah, the "cheap" option has surpassed the fancy brands.
But there *is* a federal antitrust statute; it just wasn’t being enforced nearly enough.
I hate it so bad man
And wasn’t this one of the things Harris was going to fight to have legislation against that she would’ve signed into law?
I seem to remember hearing her talk about this having anti-price gouging legislation in her stump speeches.