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‘The grocery stores are lying’: Farmer’s market customer exposes the real reason eggs are so expensive

‘I need to just get my own chickens this is nuts.’

Photo of Brooke Sjoberg

Brooke Sjoberg

Photo of Tiktok user @davidjschroer next to a photo of eggs in cartons.
@davidjschroer/Tiktok; Shutterstock (Licensed)

In the last few years, the avian flu has wreaked havoc on national egg suppliers.

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While the issue has made headlines consistently since the onset of the current strain of avian flu in 2020, the issue has driven up the prices of eggs to an all-time high in early 2025—and potentially higher.

The average price of a dozen eggs in the U.S. sits at about $4.15. However, one shopper says he approached the egg seller at his local farmer’s market to see what he thinks of the increases.

Health coach @davidjschroer says his local egg seller suggested it might be down to corporate greed. He shared his thoughts in a TikTok that has drawn over 223,000 views.

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Are grocery stores being untruthful?

“The grocery stores are lying,” he says in the video. “The egg companies are lying. I just talked to the egg guy at my local farmer’s market, just about the bird flu thing. He’s like, ‘It’s been bad since like 2022.’ So I asked what’s the increase?”

He says the egg seller told him that the increase in prices was tied to the headlines about bird flu—that the news of the issue created an environment in which businesses could raise their prices, justifying it with the need to recoup losses from culled flocks.

“He’s like, ‘Well the avian flu, bird flu, hit the news, so all the companies just increased their prices because they can,’” he recounts. “And I go, ‘Well what about the shortage?’”

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According to the egg seller, he says it’s about “supply and demand.”

“In his whole area they haven’t had any issues,” David says. “So it’s like yeah, the mass-produced egg, they might cull more flocks and everything and be more affected by that, but he’s just largely unaffected by it. So it’s just more corporate greed.”

The Daily Dot has reached out to David via TikTok and Instagram direct message regarding the video.

Why does bird flu mean fewer eggs?

Besides being bad news for chickens who fall ill, the U.S. Department of Agriculture requires sick flocks to be culled, to not only prevent the spread of the flu to people, but to other flocks.

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By eliminating an entire flock, potentially of a size to meet the needs of a commercial poultry operation, a lot of egg-laying hens are removed from the market. Fewer eggs are laid overall, but demand remains the same.

How are egg prices expected to fare in 2025?

Experts are saying that egg prices are not expected to fall significantly in 2025. Quite the opposite, actually—per Fox News, the USDA is expecting egg prices to rise by 20% this year.

This is primarily due to the avian flu’s reduction in the overall number of egg-laying hens in the U.S.

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Viewers aren’t surprised

Some viewers shared in the comments section that they were disappointed, but not at all surprised to see this playing out in their local grocery stores.

“I work in a grocery dc, def not a shortage and certainly greed,” one commenter wrote.

“My locally ran grocery store sells them for $3 a dozen while the DG in town has them at $5.25,” another said. “100% corporate greed.”

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“Sounds right,” one echoed. “No shortage in my area, so many eggs at the store they literally had them in 2 separate spots. Yet still had the inflated price.”

Several others shared that they or their neighbors had begun keeping their own chickens as the price of eggs was going up, providing a lower cost and local alternative to the eggs on shelves in the grocery store.

“A lot of people in my town have chickens and are thankfully selling cartons of a dozen eggs for $3,” one commenter wrote.

“A piece of advice: buy local eggs if you can,” another wrote. “You get fresh cheap eggs & help a local small business. Just check your area. You’ll be surprised at the ppl who have chickens.”

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