How Long Will The Egg Shortage At Whole Foods Last?
Ever since the outbreak of bird flu back in 2022, it's been a rough couple of years for the egg industry in the United States. Egg prices have been steadily climbing, which even resulted in travelers smuggling eggs from Mexico across the U.S. border. Now, many grocery stores are facing a massive egg shortage — including Whole Foods.
Tasting Table visited Whole Foods in Clark, New Jersey on January 5, 2025. The egg fridge in the store was completely empty, save for a few smaller packs of duck eggs. This same situation has been widely reported by Whole Foods customers across the country, with many of them worried about how long the situation will last. According to a spokesperson for the USDA, the national egg shortage is expected to continue well into 2025 but will likely begin to slow down in the second half of the year. Millions of laying hens were lost due to the avian flu, so it's going to take time to rebuild healthy flocks. As that happens, the prices are expected to drop too.
Whole Foods is limiting the number of egg cartons per person
In order to cope with the increased demand and severe lack of egg supply, Whole Foods is now limiting the number of eggs a single customer can purchase to three cartons per person. The sign on the empty egg fridge also informs customers that the store is having difficulty "sourcing eggs that meet our strict animal welfare standards." To many, Whole Foods is the best store for organic shopping, so the quality of the eggs is likely more important to the store than just the mere quantity.
And even though avian flu seems to be the most obvious reason for the egg shortage, some whisper that the problem goes deeper than that. Alleged Whole Foods insiders revealed on Reddit that management told the staff that the shortage is not caused by the bird flu but only by supply issues — and some are speculating that this could mean that Whole Foods is simply cutting ties with a certain supplier. Either way, the eggs are not on the shelves, and there is no official word from Whole Foods yet on when that will change.