A Lesson in Egg-Onomics: Tracing the Trouble with U.S. Egg Prices

Joe Adamski, Senior Director at ProcureAbility, was featured in a recent article from SupplyChainBrain. The article covers supply chain impacts brought on by the Avian flu epidemic. He also offered insights on industrial farming conditions and their role in the outbreak.

Avian influenza has continued to devastate poultry flocks across the U.S., as consumers have been left to deal with empty shelves at grocery stores, record-high egg prices, and no end in sight to an issue. This issue has been at the center of the country’s political discourse for months.

The U.S. avian flu epidemic has affected more than 130 million total birds since it began, making it the largest outbreak of the disease in the country’s history. Most recently, in the fall of 2024, spikes in the disease on East Coast farms led to the culling of 20 million chickens, which accounted for roughly 6.5% of the country’s 300 million egg-laying hens. That led to an 8.4% increase in retail egg prices for the single month of December, contributing to a 36.8% year-over-year bump, according the U.S. Census Bureau. The U.S. Department of Agriculture expects that trend to continue well into 2025. It predict another 20.3% rise in prices by the time the year is out.

But why is it that the price of eggs is seen as such a key indicator of economic health in the United States? First and foremost, there’s a short list of foods that stick in the minds of the everyday American when it comes to building out a grocery budget, and eggs are chief among them.

“They’re a fundamental staple,” says Keith Cooper, the leader of the food, agriculture & beverage practice at FTI Consulting, which provides a range of consultancy services to businesses across the antitrust, cybersecurity, supply chain, and sustainability sectors, among others.

Cooper points out that when eggs get more expensive, it can have a disproportionate impact on lower income households, which operate on thinner budgets, and rely on eggs as an affordable source of protein. The average American eats roughly 270 eggs a year, and because of that widespread consumption, any changes in cost are going to be more noticeable compared to fluctuations in other goods. That all makes the price of eggs a telling symbolic indicator of economic conditions for the vast majority of people, Cooper says.

Read the full article on SupplyChainBrain.

Joe Adamski has more than 12 years of advisory and consulting experience centered on strategic procurement and large-scale transformations. He has deep experience in launching and executing programs focused on strategic sourcing, supply chain, procurement strategy, organizational design, and transformations.

Earlier in his career, Joe was an Air Force pilot before joining A.T. Kearney in their consumer practice. He has consulted with numerous Fortune 500 companies in a variety of industries, including utilities, CPGs, grocery, retail, telecom, apparel, food and beverage, and government.

Joe holds a B.S. degree in Physics from the United States Air Force Academy and an MBA from Emory University’s Goizueta Business School. He enjoys boating, hiking, and spending time in the outdoors.

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