I’ve spoken before about the challenging economics facing egg producers. Well, it hasn’t gotten any easier. Since the introduction of specialty eggs such as cage free, organic, brown, free range sustainable and now regenerative, the egg market has defied supply and demand axioms. Now comprising 30% of the egg market, and predicted to command 70% in five years, specialty eggs sell for four to six times the price of ordinary eggs.
Here’s a picture from my local Walmart.
As you can guess, this is not an upscale retail outlet in a wealthy trend conscious suburb. This is farm country in the Midwest. And if Walmart is doing it, it’s not a snobby whim. Since once they’re out of the shell, eggs are all pretty much the same, although I can taste and see the difference in same day fresh eggs. Other than that, even consumers like me who are big egg fans struggle to identify any differences in taste or texture.
Perhaps the staggeringly low cost of eggs is actually part of the marketing mystery. At 98 cents per dozen, that’s eight cents per egg. I think they are the greatest protein and nutrition source of our diet. But raising the price four-fold still looks cheap, especially when situated next to the meat section.
Consumers can indulge in legitimate or questionable characteristics for essentially pennies, and they are. Years ago egg producers warned that the forced change away from cages would hurt demand but they clearly misread consumer preferences and the willingness to pay. Cheap food is not the rallying cry when incomes rise to a certain level, or for already cheap products, perhaps. Introducing regenerative - a loosely defined term at best - into the marketing mix will be instructive. They will retail for - brace yourself - eight to nine times the regular eggs.
If that works, and market share or specialty eggs continues to grow, the producers who took the chance and invested in new practices and facilities will have competitors scrambling. I’m sorry, I couldn’t help myself.
