Rising egg prices force business owners to raise prices – WSOC TV

DALLAS, NC — If you’ve bought eggs recently, you’ve probably experienced some sticker shock.

A carton of eggs cost $1.92 in January 2022. Now it costs about $5, and local business owners told Channel 9’s Hannah Goetz they had to make the changes.

Inflation, the worst bird flu outbreak in years, and the recent high demand for holiday cookies have combined to cause egg prices to soar.

This affects people like Brittany Pressler, who owns Cake Me Away in Dallas.

“It’s probably more than tripled, almost,” Pressler told Goetz. “The price has gone up, and so have the products — especially our cakes.”

The Gaston County bakery uses about 600 eggs a week to make its confections.

“I think the last time we got them, they were almost $24 for that carton of eggs,” Pressler said. “It used to be close to maybe $8 or $9.”

They spend close to $600 a month on eggs alone. Pressler said they’ve had to raise prices on specialty cakes, which can be intimidating for a local store.

“So it’s definitely more difficult when you know they’re looking for that consistency not only in the product, but also in the price,” she said.

Fortunately, Pressler said customers are understanding.

“They were very kind because I think it’s obvious to everybody that inflation is happening in all the markets that exist right now,” she said.

They can’t reduce the amount of eggs unless they change their recipes, and for a bakery like this, that’s just not an option. Until prices come down, Pressler said they feel stuck.

“Cakes are important, but hopefully there will be some relief with some eggs,” she said.

A stone’s throw from the Cake Me Away bakery, a family in Dallas has their own approach to rising egg prices.

On Friday, 10-year-old Rylen Robbins gave Goetz a tour of the homemade chicken coop in his backyard. The family has eggs whenever they want, and Robbins even has his own little business: Rylen’s Eggs.

“Dad posts on Facebook and people say they want them,” Robbins said. “We currently have a baker as a customer, which pisses everyone off because they have to wait for the eggs because she buys them all.”

Egg farming is not easy. Even Rylen had to raise his prices as the cost of food went up. A dozen Rylen’s eggs jumped from $3 to $4.

“We used to do deals, but because of the cost of inflation and the rise in chicken feed prices, we’ve gone up and we’re not doing deals anymore,” Robbins said.

But Robbins said that despite the price hike, there is still demand.

″Do a lot more people want your eggs now? Goetz asked.

“A lot,” he said.

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