Egg prices soar, impacting bakeries and customers

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Transcript

00:00Pretty much have to be brought like a security guard because they're so expensive.

00:04With the price of eggs, Mark Burgos jokes the fridge at his La Flor de Yucatan bakery feels like a bank vault.

00:11It's a piece that's rich in eggs.

00:14Ready to be coming out.

00:16And his king's cakes, or rosca de reyes in his ovens, are priced for a royal.

00:21Last year, looking back, for the small one was $10, so now they're up to $14.

00:26It's hard to keep changing prices.

00:29People are used to seeing gas prices move up and down every day,

00:33but people are not used to coming and having their daily sweets go up and down in prices like the gas.

00:39So that's over $30 more a case.

00:42He showed us skyrocketing invoices for eggs and says in 50 years in business in Pico Union,

00:48the family bakery has never had to hunt for better prices on cases of 15 dozen.

00:54They're already down to $50 a case, and then they just shot up.

00:58They went $50, $60, $70, $90, $150.

01:03Retailers blame bird flu, which has decimated flocks for the nationwide egg shortage and soaring prices.

01:09But some farmers say seasonal molting is adding to the problem.

01:13It's an eight-week period where they de-feather all their old feathers and grow in new ones.

01:19While they're doing that, they're putting all their energy and all their hormones into that growth,

01:23and they're not able to produce as many eggs.

01:26This ruffs in West L.A. an apology to customers for limited supplies.

01:30A dozen eggs here runs almost $9.

01:33Trader Joe's in Santa Monica has eggs for as little as $2.99, if you can find them.

01:38The store is saying they'd be back in stock this evening.

01:41This other location only had jumbo pasture-raised organic eggs for $6.49.

01:46Everything has a little bit of eggs.

01:48Burgos can't afford to keep his shelves empty and worries the price of eggs

01:52will make pastries too pricey for his customers in this heavily immigrant community.

01:57I would definitely like to see, you know, the city or local officials investigate why our price is so high.

02:04I mean, is this just what it is, or is it somebody being greedy?

02:08So how long will these high prices stick around?

02:11Well, the USDA says prices should come down slowly in 2025

02:15and that the supply of eggs should rebound by the middle of the year.

02:19In Pico Union, Christy Fajardo, Fox 11 News.