Egg prices rise 25% in March
The avian flu crisis and rising production costs are causing prices to rise.
BarcelonaThe price of the cheapest supermarket eggs, category M, rose 25.2% in just one month, from between €2.07 and €2.10 per dozen in February to €2.60 in March, according to the Organization of Consumers and Users (OCU). As for category L eggs, the price has risen by an average of 15.4% compared to April 2024. This increase has already alerted consumers and sectors such as the hospitality and food industry, where eggs are considered a staple food.
"One of the main factors behind this increase is the avian flu crisis in the United States, which has led to the slaughter of hundreds of millions of birds, resulting in a drastic decline in local production," explains Carlos Franco, partner at ERA Group Spain, a consulting firm specializing in the optimization of the optimization of the optimization of the optimization. Eggs are a food normally supplied locally, but this impact on poultry is causing the United States to import from other places, such as Spain, which is the third-largest egg producer in Europe. Furthermore, rising production costs due to new animal welfare regulations prohibiting cage farming, and the general rise in energy, logistics, and feed costs, as well as preventative treatments for poultry, have influenced the rise in egg prices throughout the production chain.
Another factor is the role of the consumer. According to Franco, "the visibility of rising prices on everyday products like eggs generates a certain psychosis effect, similar to what happened during the pandemic with basic products like toilet paper." Franco explains that consumers tend to increase their spending on these types of products when they see a price increase in the market, causing the market to become even more tense.
Franco explains that a rapid drop in prices in the short and medium term, reaching pre-March prices, is unlikely. "Even if prices rise, there are cost optimization strategies that can help mitigate the impact and avoid a direct increase in the price to the end consumer," says Franco, who recommends companies work with efficiency strategies to reduce the effects.
