OVERLAND PARK, Kan. — Egg prices are up about 50% over the past year.
The most recent numbers from mid-January show a dozen eggs cost more than $5, leaving some Kansas City-area business scrambling as they find ways to deal with the cost.
The cost increase appears to have accelerated since November, the month Donald Trump was elected president, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
In the week ending on Jan. 18, a dozen yolks cost $5.29, a steep climb from February 2024, when the price was a little over $3.50 a dozen, according to data compiled by the NIQ consumer research group.
In November, the price of a dozen eggs edged up to $3.65, and in December, the price rose again to $4.15, theBLS figures showed.
Best Regards Bakery in Overland Park goes through a few cartons a week.
Robert Duensing is the co-owner and says they've noticed the hike.
"Oh my goodness, yes," Duensing said. "I buy eggs probably twice a week. You know, and that hurts. During the Super Bowl run, my eggs, my budget that I spend on eggs, went from about $350 to $1,000."
The rise in prices were brought on by the bird flu outbreak that is impacting the chicken population nationwide. More than 13 million hens have been lost or slaughtered since December.
Robert says he remembers the old days.
"Back in the good old days like a year ago, they were 17-24 dollars a case," he said. "And for restaurants and bakeries, this is a case. It has 15 dozen eggs, and so it would only be $24."
He says now that number has jumped to $140 per case, and around this time of year especially, that can add up pretty fast.
He's hoping the government finds a way to crack down on the outbreak, but either way he doesn't plan to raise his prices.
"Everything that we make has eggs in it," Duensing said. "Like the big batch of sugar cookies, there's a dozen eggs. I have another recipe that has six pounds of eggs in it, and the breakfast sandwich over here has two eggs in it. But no, we're not going to raise the price."
The egg price explosion also poses a potential political problem for Trump, who won the White House in November by hammering the Biden administration for high food and other costs. Trump also promised to bring grocery prices down on his first day in office.
Already, Democrats are hammering Trump for not making good on his promise to "immediately" lower food prices.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture predicts the cost of eggs will go up another 20% this year.
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