New York (AP) – Small business owners who rely on eggs for their products are facing shocks because the usually reliable element is in short supply.
Bird flu is forcing farmers to slaughter millions of chickens per month, making egg prices rise to us. The average pricing of a dozen grade A egg in American cities reached $ 4.95 in Januaryecliping the previous $ 4.82 record set two years ago and more than twice the $ 2.04 that was recorded in August 2023. The Department of Agriculture predicts that prices will fly 20% this year.
Most owners are getting the step growth, seeing it as just one of the many obstacles they are constantly facing. But if the problem goes on, they can be forced to raise prices or fix their products.
Liz Berman is the only owner and owner of the sleepy copper in Natick, Massachusetts. It is specialized in custom cakes, from scrap, but also sells cupcakes, cookies, pie and other baked goods.
Eggs are just one of the baking ingredients that experiences price shock. Items such as cocoa powder and butter have also grown. And the price is not the only issue.
“It’s not just the cost of eggs, isn’t it? Alsosh also only availability, “she said. She prefers to buy medium -sized white eggs, buying a box of 18 dozen eggs, but two weeks ago they were not available, so she had to buy eggs Coffee in individual cartons of 12.
“It sounds a kind of folly, but when I’m the only owner and have a large volume of work, I need to take a dozen egg from my walk at a time compared to an egg flat, just just a pain,” She said.
She does not think prices will be eased at any time soon. Cocoa powder prices have been raised for years.
“I think that u will ultimately have to raise my prices, which is difficult because it means that there is a category of client that will no longer order from me,” she said.
In Princeton, New Jersey, John Nachlinger, owner of Bad Cookie’s company, is imposing a 25 percent temporary for an additional cookie to help mitigate increased costs.
“While cookies are already a tight margin food, these growths have really damaged our end,” Nachlinger said. He said he does not want to permanently raise prices or adjust the size of his cookies as he hopes the egg situation is temporary. “We want to bring value to our customers,” he said.
At Daisies, a pasta restaurant in Agoikago, chef/partner Joe Frillman and chef/partner Leigh Omilinsky have not raised prices, but are thinking of adjusting the menu items.
Omilinsky said she is thinking of adding more vegan deserts and without eggs to the menu and worked harder with flax seeds. She said the absence has made her more aware of the ingredients she is using and spending less.
“You know, if we need egg yolk, we are absolutely sparing the whites,” she said.
Meanwhile, Frllman said the restaurant has moved to make pasta that use fewer eggs.
“We just changed the shape of the noodles,” he said. “We use an extruder which is a piece of equipment that allows us to essentially extract egg -free pasta.”
Depending on how long the lack of eggs lasts, they can also regulate the menu items, he said.
“We have a pappardelle in our menu that has continued from day one,” he said. “If this reaches the point when it’s just a stop cost, it’s very heavy egg yolk, we would be transferred to something like a spaghetti or a fettuccine that is a similar noodle we can do without eggs.”
Meanwhile, Stephanie Maynard, co -owner of Ox Hollow Farm in Roxbury, Connecticut, faces a different issue: increasing demand.
The farm she owns with her husband produces beef, pork, poultry, eggs and vegetables. They have 950 paved chickens, with 300 others coming in March. Winter is generally a quieter time as the farm prepares for the compressed months of spring and summer, increasing the inventory in hand until it is ready to sell. But this year, they are rushing to increase egg production for clients in Greenmarkets.
People who can normally buy eggs in supermarkets are returning to green markets due to lack, and regular customers are increasing their messages just to make sure they have eggs, she said.
“We have developed a report with our clients. I know many of them by name and face, “she said.” And now you see people you’ve never seen before following a market. So I’m drawing many new customers to get eggs in the market. “