Customers purchase eggs at an HEB grocery store on May 11, 2026 in Austin, Texas.
Brandon Bell | Getty Images
Egg prices are finally falling, which is a welcome change for consumers.
But now, a new challenge has producers scrambling: They have too many eggs at a time when their input costs are rising.
As the market transitions from shortages caused by last year’s bird flu to growing oversupply, producers say lower prices at grocery stores mask pressure from cost inflation.
“A year ago, everyone was talking about the high price of eggs, because unfortunately many birds were lost,” said Thomas Flocco, CEO of egg producer Pete & Gerry’s.
“We’re facing an oversupply situation right now, which is why we’re seeing a dozen eggs under a dollar in some cases,” Flocco said.
Egg prices fell 44.7% year-over-year in March 2026, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, marking a sharp reversal from last year’s rise during the avian flu outbreak. The slowdown follows a period of herd rebuilding, which industry officials say has left producers wary of another shortage.
The collapse in prices is creating new pressure on margins at a time when producers can least afford it. Input costs like animal feed, which skyrocketed in 2022 and 2023, have been high for years, and now fuel prices have also climbed due to the war in Iran.
“All of these cost pressures are reflected in our cost structure,” Flocco said. “About half the cost of a dozen premium eggs is spent on food. Diesel has an immediate impact. We have to drive to get these eggs.”
American Egg Board President and CEO Emily Metz echoed those concerns, saying feed, fuel and labor costs “have not gone away” and continue to weigh on producers even as consumer demand returns and wholesale prices weaken.
The protein bump
The good news for producers is that demand is strong, according to Flocco, as shoppers increasingly prioritize protein in their diets.
More than four in ten Americans say they are more focused on protein than they were five years ago, according to a new survey commissioned by Pete & Gerry’s. The study also found that two-thirds of Americans report eating eggs weekly specifically for their protein content, and many view whole foods like eggs as more nutritious than processed alternatives.
Shoppers looking for eggs at the grocery store have recently found them in abundance and at a good price. But for producers, even this strong demand has not been enough to offset the oversupply.
“What we’re seeing in the market today is much more about supply recovery and timing changes than a fundamental shift in consumption,” Sherman Miller, CEO of Cal-Maine Foods, the largest marketer of eggs in the United States, said in April.
Metz also said the current price weakness is not related to demand.
“[Prices] reflect a supply which increases more quickly than demand can absorb, driven by the reconstitution of herds after [avian influenza]growing small farms and improving productivity,” Metz said.
That hasn’t stopped President Donald Trump from taking credit for falling egg prices as he tries to promote affordability ahead of this fall’s midterm elections.
“We brought prices down, significantly,” Trump said Thursday. “Lower than it was four years ago.”