The egg industry is highly dependent on the health of its chickens. In December 2021, the avian influenza was detected in Canada and subsequently spread to the United States in the beginning of 2022. Wild birds in nearly every state were infected as well as commercial flocks in about half of the United States. This was the first outbreak since 2015 and led to over 50 million birds being killed to prevent further spread, the majority of which were poultry.
Avian flu impact on the industry
The egg industry in the U.S. was impacted greatly from the avian flu in 2022, with consumers paying an average retail price of over four U.S. dollars for a
dozen eggs that year, more than double the price in 2021. This figure has since decreased in 2023, but remains elevated compared to previous years. There were almost 12 million fewer
egg-laying hens in 2022 and
egg production dropped by almost two billion eggs in 2022, reaching about 109.5 billion eggs. This figure dropped again slightly in 2023.
Retail market
Eggs are provided in a wide array of forms in the food industry: besides shell eggs, you may find dried or powdered eggs.
Most produced shell eggs go to retail in the United States.
In the retail market, the
fresh egg department was dominated by private labels. The brands Eggland’s Best and Vital Farms followed with some distance.
Pasture raised eggs had the largest sales growth in 2023 at an impressive 37 percent, showing a recovery from the crisis in 2022.
Egg consumption
On the consumer side, it was projected that
per capita consumption of eggs will reach over 284 eggs by 2024. Consumers in the west of the United States
spend the most on eggs regionally, at an average of over 100 U.S. dollars per year. Consumers in the midwest spend the least. While per capita egg consumption is forecast to increase in the U.S., the alternatives market has also been making a name for itself. The
plant-based egg market is still in its infancy, yet was valued at approximately 43 million U.S. dollars in 2023 in the United States.
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