Egg prices easing

A year ago, a dozen eggs was the grocery item that made people stare at the receipt. This week, DoorDash said its new Breakfast Basics Index fell 22.3% from a year earlier, and it tied most of that drop to cheaper eggs. (supermarketnews.com) That index is built from actual local purchases, not a survey, and DoorDash says it pulls from restaurant orders, grocery baskets, and everyday household goods. In the same report, prices for everyday household goods were almost flat, down 0.3% from a year earlier. (supermarketnews.com) The reason eggs move breakfast costs so fast is simple: one carton touches half the aisle. Eggs show up directly in scrambled eggs and omelets, and indirectly in pancakes, waffles, French toast, and baked goods sold by grocery stores and diners. (supermarketnews.com) The backdrop is that egg prices had already gone through a historic spike. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics says the national average retail price for a dozen Grade A large eggs hit a record $6.23 in March 2025. (congress.gov) By February 2026, that same Bureau of Labor Statistics series had fallen to about $2.50 a dozen. That is still not cheap by 2019 standards, but it is a very different number from the $6 handle shoppers were seeing last spring. (fred.stlouisfed.org) The big driver of the spike was bird flu hitting laying flocks. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says A(H5) bird flu is widespread in wild birds worldwide and has caused outbreaks in poultry and U.S. dairy cows, while the disease has also produced 71 human cases in the United States since February 2024. (cdc.gov) When fewer hens are laying, the egg market reacts like a parking lot with half the spaces closed. The U.S. Department of Agriculture said in its April 3, 2026 egg market report that national wholesale prices for large white shell eggs dropped $0.71 in a week to $0.46 per dozen, with supplies described as moderate to heavy. (ams.usda.gov) Retail shelves do not move in lockstep with wholesale markets, but wholesale drops usually show up later in store ads and menu pricing. The same U.S. Department of Agriculture report said the average advertised price for conventional caged eggs was $1.61 per dozen in early April 2026. (ams.usda.gov) Food inflation has not disappeared just because eggs cooled off. The U.S. Department of Agriculture said food-at-home prices in February 2026 were still 2.4% higher than a year earlier, even as eggs were one of the few categories posting a large one-month decline. (ers.usda.gov) So the shift here is narrow but real: one of the most visible symbols of grocery inflation is no longer pushing the bill higher. If eggs stay near current levels, breakfasts stop acting like a luxury purchase and start looking normal again. (supermarketnews.com)