ELISSA NADWORNY, HOST:
It's baking season - holiday cakes and cookies and babka. And that means, for the bakers among us, many, many eggs, right as egg prices are on their way back up again - not as high as they were at the start of the bird flu outbreak in 2022, but a dozen regular eggs will cost you, on average, 60% more than they would a year ago. Here to talk with us about why that is happening is Emily Metz, president and CEO of the American Egg Board. Welcome to the program.
EMILY METZ: Thanks so much for having me.
NADWORNY: So all this holiday baking - I mean, does it actually have an impact on egg consumption nationally?
METZ: It really does. You know, this is our highest consumption period of the year, is the holidays. And I think that's in large part because, as you mentioned, you can't have cookies, cakes, pies or even babka without eggs. I will note, however, though, that we are on an 18 months of consecutive high consumption, which is atypical for us. Typically, we see a little softening of the market during the summer months, when everybody's outside. That did not happen this year.
NADWORNY: Eggs have also kind of become the symbol of the economy. My question is why are egg prices rising, even though inflation is trending down?
METZ: The biggest variable is highly pathogenic avian influenza. And where that really comes from is wild birds that are transmitting this disease. And even though our farmers are hypervigilant and have invested millions of dollars into making sure their farms are safe and secure, we still have seen a significant impact from HPAI, or bird flu, this year, impacting about 8% of our flock nationwide. And what that means is there's just less supply. And of course, any economists would tell you when there's lower supply and higher demand, you get higher prices.
NADWORNY: And so essentially, there's just fewer eggs being hatched and growing to maturity and then making more eggs.
METZ: Unfortunately, that is the case. After a couple months of no outbreaks, we saw a significant number of outbreaks the past two months - and a lot of those, unfortunately, on the West Coast, and so a lot of variables at play there.
NADWORNY: Four states now require eggs sold within their boundaries to be cage free. Are those chickens more vulnerable to bird flu because they are out kind of pecking around?
METZ: Well, this virus does not discriminate. It affects farms of all shapes and sizes, birds of all shapes and sizes, who are raised in all of the ways that they can be raised and produce eggs. What has happened, though, is we have seen this year disproportionate impact on cage-free flocks. So there's additional stress on the cage-free egg market in particular due to bird flu this year.
NADWORNY: I wonder, how much will the average baker this season feel the pain of these price increases?
METZ: You know, I think - while all I can emphasize is while people are very cognizant of the price they're paying for eggs, I think that's because eggs are such a beloved staple in their life that people notice when there's slight increases or decreases in the price.
NADWORNY: How about you, Emily? Are you a baker?
METZ: I am a baker. I actually love to bake - baked all the pies for Thanksgiving. And I'm slated to bake some - starting to bake Christmas cookies with my uncles next weekend at their house in California, which is our yearly tradition. So we've actually been texting all day what's on the list, and we're up to about 15 different types of cookies.
NADWORNY: Emily Metz, president and CEO of the American Egg Board. Thank you so much for joining us.
METZ: Thank you so much, and happy baking to everyone. And I would just say, keep calm and crack on. There's going to be eggs for you.
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