CCE
(Keyrock the unfrozen caveman lawyer; your world frightens & confuses me)
202
My oldest daughter buys eggs at Aldi. Last week she texted me a “WTH?” photo showing the price sign at $3.77.
I thought maybe just an employee mistake, but a quick internet search showed people complaining. She said the more usual price is $2.50-2.70. Monday I was in a different, more expensive grocery chain, and their XL were $5.
Today I popped into Aldi myself for some lamb and the eggs were $1.79. I’m going to check the other chain later today when I head home and see if their price is rollercoastering too.
in big broad brush strokes . . . shell eggs - aka the thingies in the carton - are locally/semi-locally sourced. - regardless of store brand / big name brand on the carton.
if you look on the carton - the plant producing/packing the eggs is there - by law.
you can determine what farm they came from using:
when local places get whammied with ‘diseases’ / etc. the price soars because eggs then have to be imported from further away producers.
of course, even in ‘everything’s good’ times - local costs of labor, taxes, energy, etc. drastically affect the selling price…
4 Likes
CCE
(Keyrock the unfrozen caveman lawyer; your world frightens & confuses me)
204
Thanks Tom, appreciate the info and locater link. I’ve use the plant codes before to figure out which non-branded chicken is coming from the more expensive sellers (whose chicken is actually better than the run of the mill stuff). But I never thought about checking eggs.
But what seems unusual even if some local places had had a catastrophe (or chicktastrophe) is the whipsaw nature of the price changes in just about a week’s time.
Last week at our Albertson’s/Safeway, I paid $9 for 18 commodity “large” eggs. I was shocked, and even more so heart-broken for households living on fixed income. Shopping for groceries used to be fun, then a chore, and now just slightly depressing as I see people struggling.
So I went to my favorite local supermarket, La Bonita and bought 18 eggs for $5.99. Oddly enough before egg prices began to suddenly jump in price a month or so ago, La Bonita’s egg prices were MUCH higher than the chain supermarkets.
I purchase my eggs from a small local operation which has been scaling down in the past months. The colder winter weather here always slows production. For 18 beautiful, quality eggs, mostly of the ‘commercial’ large size has been $7.50 for years. In a few days the price increases to $8. I’ll pay it, I trust the farmer. Once in awhile I’ll purchase one of her huge (like 5#) spent hens. No problems with those, either.
Only place i’ve found egg is Grocery Outlet. TJ’s and Lucky’s in Oakland and Alameda have not carried eggs for two weeks. Zero eggs at Lucky’s and TJs used the usual egg frigs for other stuff.
Wow! I got some at Lucky’s Vacaville recently, although I don’t recall what I paid .
Just after that (December 19th) I got this from Farm Fresh To You, and didn’t skip my recurring order, although I still had some eggs. I think they are usually $8.99.
I thought NYC was all alone in this! Much as I would like to support local egg producers, I just can’t pay more than $7/dozen. So I am reluctantly buying from TJ’s or WF.
I don’t imagine I would start now! I don’t use a dozen eggs most months, but I’ve been buying eggs through this “CSA” for about 25 years. They let you customize deliveries, and I often skip the eggs.
I eat at least one egg every day. Medium H eats two. We go through a lot of eggs.
5 Likes
ChristinaM
(Hungry in Asheville, NC (still plenty to offer tourists post Hurricane))
221
I have seen 18 eggs going for $12 at the grocery store here in NC. They’re nice but not super farmy eggs. Kinda ridic but I guess what the market can bear.
I purchase my eggs from a small local operation which has been scaling down in the past months. The colder winter weather here always slows production. For 18 beautiful, quality eggs, mostly of the ‘commercial’ large size has been $7.50 for years. In a few days the price increases to $8. I’ll pay it, I trust the farmer. Once in awhile I’ll purchase one of her huge (like 5#) spent hens. No problems with those, either.
