Egg price fluctuation is not new to Scott Auslander, general manager of Bread Furst, a bakery in Washington, DC. But this time it is different, he told CNN.
“Our suppliers are telling us that they don’t know when egg prices will lower – or if they will download,” Auslander said. “The eggs are scandalous.”
Bread Furst uses about 150 eggs a day and is now paying more than double what the bakery paid for a year, Auslander said.
Last week, the bakery increased the prices of all its sweets and dishes with many eggs, which represents about one third of the menu. This includes its exclusive “messy egg sandwich”, which now costs an extra dollar.
Egg prices are rising across the country after the current outbreak of avian flu led to the slaughter of tens of millions of chickens last year.
This is forcing many American bakeries to consider the possibility of increasing prices if they have not yet done it while trying to find out how to manage the egg crisis in the country.
“We have never had to think about the cost of eggs so far,” said Auslander.
In search of solutions
The highly pathogenic H5N1 virus, or avian influenza, infected flocks across the country last year, resulting in the deaths of more than 40 million laying birds, according to the US Department of Agriculture. This is causing the current scarcity of eggs, which caused the prices to shoot.
OS, according to government data. This was the fourth largest annual increase in records dating back to 1992.
Prices for bakery products have not yet significantly rose, according to the consumer price index, but this may change if bakeries do not get a break from increasing egg prices soon. In addition to increasing prices, bakeries are trying to find out other ways to survive.
Werner Simon, owner of Manhattan Sweets Boutique Bakery in Long Island, New York, said the bakery is planning to increase prices in the coming weeks, but is also considering using so -called egg substitutes, a product that “has a little gem of gem of egg and soy and replaces about 5% to 10% of eggs. ”
He said he is concerned about the excessive use of this product so as not to compromise the “integrity” of bakery sweets.
EAT Just Inc., which manufactures various plant egg -based products designed to mimic chicken eggs, has seen the demand trigger in recent weeks.
Sales to retailers like Walmart, Whole Foods, Kroger and Publix were five times longer last month compared to the same period last year, according to data that the company shared with CNN.
“Usually we are the ones who come into contact with places” to market their products to retailers, josh tetrick, CEO of Eat Just, told CNN. In recent weeks, the company has experienced the opposite, he said.
To meet the increase in demand, the company has increased and accelerated its requests for ingredients and packaging materials, as well as programming extra production days.
This is reducing its profit margins, but for now, the company is not increasing prices, hoping that it will help you gain more permanent customers, even after the situation of aviary flu resolves, Tetrick said.
But recent headaches for bakeries do not only revolve around eggs. “None of this is sustainable because we are also dealing with the high prices of Cocoa,” said Simon.
“There is not much more that we can do right now.”
Bread Furst’s Auslander said he trained a new team member last week to ensure that they use the entire egg when baking or cooking, even if it means taking longer to shake all the egg content before throwing away the shell .
Will consumers be understanding?
Increasing prices is usually a difficult decision for companies because it almost always results in the loss of customers, said Charles Lindsey, marketing professor at University at Buffalo School of Management.
But in some cases this is necessary for the survival of the company, and it may limit the number of customers who lose after increasing prices effectively communicating the reasoning behind it, Lindsey said.
“It all comes down to how well a company can explain why and how it is sharing the pain,” Lindsey said. “The last thing you want to do is increase prices and not be transparent about it”
Kerri Francis Bradley, Copropriete of D Light Cafe & Bakery in the Adams Morgan neighborhood of Washington, DC, said she and her husband personally absorbed the increase in egg costs.
She said that before the egg crisis, the bakery could buy a box of 30 dozen eggs for about $ 50, but now that same box costs more than $ 200.
Bradley said he probably will have to increase prices, but noted that communication around any future price increase will be critical.
“When you make any price change, people get upset, no matter what you do,” Bradley said.
“Whenever we do this, we will probably publish on our social media page, we will make sure that the front staff are instructed about what to say and how to explain, and we will signal for people to know – and we hope people hope keep supporting small businesses. ”
