NEW: Cracking Big Egg — Why The Industry’s Narrative Around Price Hikes Doesn’t Add Up Months long investigation reveals the “bird flu” explanation, alone, can’t explain soaring egg prices.

This is not the first time there has been an outbreak of bird flu. There was actually another one in 2015. But in 2022, prices rose more than THREE TIMES more per hen lost than they did back then.

Another explanation from the industry is overall inflation in the economy — which has made it more expensive to PRODUCE eggs. But feed costs, which account for roughly half of egg production expenses, have actually DECREASED significantly since 2022. The cost of propane and natural gas, the most common type of fuel in poultry farming, are also down.

Even Cal-Maine — the biggest egg producer — which has seen its profits surge by like 940% since 2022 — shows in its OWN financial statements that production costs are down 17.5% from mid-2023 to 2024… And bodegas weren’t selling eggs as loosies in 2023!

Alright, so maybe it’s demand? People are just fiending for eggs? Not necessarily! According to the industry's own data, U.S. egg consumption per person actually dropped from 292 eggs annually in 2019 to 274 in 2024.

Big Egg claims to be a price taker — saying they just charge what the market tells them is fair. But unlike other commodities — like soy or corn or even orange juice — eggs aren’t directly traded on an exchange. Instead, they are mostly traded directly between counterparties. And most commonly, that price is determined according to data published by a private price reporting agency called Urner Barry. Urner Barry, meanwhile, claims to set its published prices based in part on data collected from the market participants. So the producers are claiming to rely on Urner Barry to set prices, while Urner Barry is making the exact same claim about the producers. Talk about a, uh, chicken and egg situation. This state of affairs has not gone unnoticed by State attorneys general, who have called out this “feedback loop” in multiple actions against egg producers for price gouging. Urner Barry told Hunterbrook: “Whether they are going up or down, we do not set prices, we simply observe and report what is happening.”

This MAY explain something you might have noticed: Back in 2021, cage-free eggs were way more expensive than conventional eggs, which makes some intuitive sense… But now, conventional eggs are often more expensive.

One difference? Conventional eggs are priced using Urner Barry quotes, while cage-free eggs typically use long-term contracts based on actual production costs.

Part of what makes this possible is the consolidation of the egg industry. The four largest companies now control 39% of the market – approaching what economists consider an oligopoly threshold. Past that threshold, supply and demand may not be the only things dictating prices. Read @FarmActionUS and @musharbash_b’s reporting on this.

Also check out the reporting on this issue from the Guardian, NYT, and @foodandwater, which came out as we were preparing to publish.

As one Urner Barry analyst candidly explained in a video last year that Hunterbrook found, this might all come down to “psychology.” In other words: Big Egg is charging more because they think they can get away with it — and we’ll all comply. Will we let them?

Read our full investigation at — and reach out to [email protected] if you have any information regarding what is really responsible for eggs becoming the new caviar. Hunterbrook Capital did not take any positions related to Hunterbrook Media's reporting.

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