What's with people buying all the eggs?

December 13, 2025 •

4 min read

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, a 2024-2025 avian influenza outbreak caused massive losses to egg-laying flocks, driving up prices and leading to the phenomenon of what's with people buying all the eggs. This widespread issue stems from a complex mix of supply chain vulnerabilities, inflation, and panic-driven consumer behavior.

Quick Summary

Recent egg shortages and record price hikes are the result of several converging factors. These include devastating avian influenza outbreaks, pandemic-related supply chain weaknesses, and consumer panic buying fueled by media reports and empty shelves.

Key Points

Bird Flu Outbreaks: Avian influenza has forced the culling of tens of millions of hens, causing a major and prolonged reduction in egg supply.
Economic Inflation: Rising costs for feed, energy, and labor are pushing egg production costs higher, which are passed on to consumers.
Consumer Panic Buying: Anxiety over price hikes and empty shelves can cause shoppers to stockpile, worsening short-term availability issues.
Supply Chain Weaknesses: An industry concentrated among a few large producers is highly vulnerable to shocks like disease outbreaks, leading to major disruptions.
Recovery Takes Time: Replenishing egg-laying flocks after an outbreak is a slow process, taking months for production to normalize.
Complex Market Drivers: The phenomenon is not a single issue but a complex interaction between biological, economic, and behavioral factors.

The Perfect Storm: A Confluence of Factors

When you see someone clearing the last few cartons from the grocery store shelves, it's easy to assume irrational panic is the only driver. While consumer behavior plays a role, the reality is far more complicated, involving a fragile supply chain, viral outbreaks, and broader economic pressures. The question "What's with people buying all the eggs?" is best answered by looking at the systemic issues that create scarcity and the psychological responses that amplify it.

Avian Influenza's Devastating Impact

By far the most significant cause of recent egg shortages is the spread of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI), commonly known as bird flu. Outbreaks in 2022 and again in 2024-2025 forced egg producers to cull tens of millions of egg-laying hens to prevent the disease's spread. This decimation of the national flock has a prolonged effect on supply because it takes months to replace the lost hens. New pullets must be raised to laying age, a process that can take up to six months before egg production returns to previous levels.

Economic Pressures and Volatility

Beyond the virus, several economic factors have contributed to egg price volatility and scarcity:

Higher Production Costs: The costs for poultry feed (corn and soy), energy for farm operations, and labor have all risen, putting upward pressure on egg prices. Farmers must pass these costs on to consumers to remain profitable.
Industry Concentration: The egg industry is highly concentrated, with a small number of large producers accounting for a significant portion of the total supply. When a major outbreak hits one of these large facilities, the impact on national supply is severe and immediate.
Inflation: Overall inflation has also played a role. While egg prices have often outpaced general food inflation, the broader economic trend of higher prices across the board normalizes consumers' expectations for sticker shock at the grocery store.

Consumer Psychology and Panic Buying

When supply is tight, and prices are volatile, consumer behavior can exacerbate the problem. The sight of empty shelves, combined with news of rising prices, can trigger panic buying. The psychological effect is similar to the run on toilet paper seen during the COVID-19 pandemic. Shoppers, fearing that their preferred products will be unavailable, purchase more than they need, creating a self-fulfilling prophecy of scarcity. This irrational hoarding is a short-term phenomenon but can have a long-lasting effect on market stability and consumer trust.

The Shift to Cage-Free and Supply Chain Fragility

The market's slow but steady shift toward cage-free and barn-laid eggs also adds complexity. While a response to changing consumer preferences, transitioning production systems can introduce new challenges. The larger, more open environments of cage-free facilities can increase the risk of disease transmission from wild birds, which are carriers of HPAI. Furthermore, the entire supply chain, from hatchery to supermarket, is a finely tuned system. Any shock, whether from a disease outbreak or a shift in production methods, can cause ripple effects that take a long time to correct.

A Comparison of Contributing Factors


Factor	How it Affects Egg Supply	Consumer Reaction	Market Outcome
Avian Influenza	Mass culling of egg-laying hens, significantly reduces supply for an extended period.	Heightened anxiety and concerns over availability and food safety.	Severe and prolonged supply shortages and record price hikes.
Inflation & Costs	Increases farmer operational costs for feed, energy, and labor, necessitating higher prices.	Resentment over rising food costs; may trade down to cheaper protein sources.	Elevated and volatile prices; can drive consumers away from the product.
Panic Buying	Exacerbates initial supply dips by creating artificial, short-term demand surges.	Hoarding; purchases beyond immediate needs, creating empty shelves.	Temporary, intense shortages in specific retail locations, amplifying public fear.
Supply Chain Frailty	Relies on concentrated production and just-in-time delivery, making it vulnerable to shocks.	Decreased trust in food systems and expectations of instability.	Persistent price volatility; long recovery times after supply disruptions.

The Outlook for the Egg Market

While temporary solutions like increased imports can offer short-term relief, the long-term stability of the egg market depends on addressing these systemic issues. Improved biosecurity measures, diversification of supply sources, and investment in more resilient production systems are all critical steps. Consumers also play a role by understanding the factors at play and resisting the urge to panic buy when faced with temporary shortages.

Conclusion

The confusion over what's with people buying all the eggs stems from a perfect storm of biological, economic, and psychological forces. The devastation of bird flu outbreaks, coupled with ongoing inflation and a fragile supply chain, created a genuine scarcity. This scarcity was then amplified by consumer anxiety and panic buying, leaving shelves bare and prices soaring. Only through a comprehensive approach addressing all these factors can the industry hope to achieve greater stability and restore consumer confidence. The market is recovering, but the underlying vulnerabilities remain, suggesting future volatility is possible unless significant changes are made.

Visit the USDA website for official reports on avian influenza.

Frequently Asked Questions

Egg prices have surged due to a combination of factors, including devastating avian influenza outbreaks that reduced the supply of egg-laying hens and broader economic inflation impacting production costs like feed and energy.

Avian influenza remains a concern, with ongoing outbreaks affecting flocks and creating market volatility. While production is recovering, it takes a long time to fully replenish egg-laying populations.

Yes, reports indicate that panic buying, fueled by concerns over shortages and rising prices, has caused some consumers to buy more eggs than necessary, contributing to empty store shelves.

Restoring the egg supply takes a significant amount of time. New hens must be raised to laying age, a process that can take several months, meaning recovery is slow and steady.

While general inflation contributes to higher costs across the board, egg prices have seen particularly sharp and volatile increases due to specific industry pressures like disease outbreaks and concentrated production.

Laying hens are a different breed from meat chickens and take much longer to reach maturity and produce eggs. When a flock of layers is culled, it creates a much longer recovery period than for meat production.

Strategies include improving biosecurity on farms to prevent disease spread, diversifying the supply chain to reduce concentration risk, and implementing strategic plans for flock recovery.