Egg prices: Surcharges, cost hikes, limits – how McHenry County businesses are coping

The soaring cost of eggs has prompted many McHenry County businesses to raise their prices or limit purchases, though some are starting to see relief.

Cheshire Cakes in downtown Crystal Lake found that an order of 15 dozen eggs two weeks ago was running $150. It’s down to $100 this past week. With prices remaining high at her wholesale vendors, it’s still been cheaper to get eggs at the grocery store, Kellyann Hill, owner and chef at the bakery, said.

[ Photos: Local businesses coping with high egg prices ]

The cheapest vendors are providing eggs for just over $6 per dozen, while a dozen eggs cost about $4 to $6 at the grocery store, Hill said. Some area grocers have recently sold eggs for up to $9 per dozen, though.

Clock Tower Cupcakes, which is undergoing renovations in downtown Algonquin and is online in the meantime, isn’t sure about price increases yet. Donna Stratton, who owns the bakery, plans to see how the first half of the year goes.

“I’m trying really hard not to” raise prices, Stratton said earlier this month.

But while eggs have increased in price the most, the cost of just about everything she uses to make cupcakes has gone up too.

Stratton said she used to pay about 89 cents per dozen eggs before the COVID-19 pandemic, Now she’s paying about $30 for five dozen.

Restaurants are also paying more for eggs, whose prices are still high despite easing off their peaks.

Owner Brian Siudak of Windhill Pancake Parlor in downtown McHenry said the restaurant doesn’t want to raise prices unless it has to.

Siudak said Windhill is paying triple for eggs as it was five months ago. A case of eggs cost $124 a few weeks ago, but prices are starting to come down; that case was $105 two weeks ago.

But the eatery goes through 15 to 20 cases a week. Meat prices have gone up too, and bacon is now almost $5 per pound, Siudak said.

Andy’s Restaurant in Crystal Lake was paying about $250 per case at the end of February, manager Angelo Angelos said. Each case has about 30 dozen eggs.

But, with the truck stopping by to deliver eggs Thursday, Andy’s paid about $195 per case.

Meat prices have stayed pretty constant, and Andy’s hasn’t seen much difference in the price per pound in chicken, Angelos said.

The restaurant increased prices across the board about a month and a half ago, Angelos said.

Eggville Cafe in Cary had a sign posted on the door in early March warning customers of a 50-cent-per-egg surcharge, which the restaurant attributed to “an unprecedented rise in egg prices.”

“The decision was not made lightly, and we truly regret any inconvenience,” said the sign, which was also posted at tables inside.

At Isabel’s Family Restaurant in Woodstock, while egg prices have fluctuated, they haven’t returned to pre-COVID levels. At that time, the restaurant was paying about $40 for 30 dozen eggs, Mary Witt, who owns the restaurant alongside Antonio Delgado said.

During the pandemic, egg prices were running about $150 to $175 a case but, like Andy’s. Isabel’s recently has paid as much as $250.

When Isabel’s went to place an order for eggs last week, the eggs cost $180 for a box, but the restaurant ordered six boxes. Wednesday’s price was the lowest the eatery has paid since the holidays, Witt said.

Meat has also gone up, Witt said, but not as much as eggs.

A representative from Food Shed Co-op in Woodstock said it gets eggs from six different vendors and has not had to limit eggs per customer. The store did have one of its vendors place a “maximum order status” on them.

KD Market in Crystal Lake has seen an increase in egg prices and has adjusted shelf prices, Marketing Manager Beata Bek said.

The store hasn’t limited egg purchases, but some of the regular suppliers were out of stock. The store sought out new vendors, which has enabled the store to expand its offerings and Bek said the company is happy with the quality of the new suppliers.

“At this point, egg prices have somewhat stabilized. Some of our suppliers have even slightly reduced their prices already, and we’re hopeful that the situation will gradually return to normal. After all, eggs are not only a key part of many diets, but also an important ingredient in baking, including for cakes and paczki,” Bek said in an email.

KD Market also carries eggs imported from Poland, which have always been more expensive than the domestic eggs, Bek said. But now the Polish eggs are similarly priced or cheaper than the domestic eggs, Bek said.

Trader Joe’s, whose McHenry County-area locations include Algonquin, has imposed limits.

“Due to ongoing issues with the supply of eggs, we are currently limiting egg purchases to one dozen per customer, per day, in all Trader Joe’s stores across the country. We hope these limits will help to ensure that as many of our customers who need eggs are able to purchase them when they visit Trader Joe’s,” a company spokesperson told the Northwest Herald Tuesday.

Nationally, Grade A eggs cost an average of $5.90 per dozen in U.S. cities in February, according to the Associated Press.

Bird flu has forced farmers to kill “more than 166 million birds, mostly egg-laying chickens” and more than 30 million egg layers have been killed since the start of the year, AP reported.

While some consumer advocate groups and others have called for an investigation into whether egg producers have used avian flu to price-gouge, producers have said the avian flu is the sole reason for higher egg prices, according to the AP.

Chains such as Waffle House have also imposed a temporary egg surcharge in the wake of bird flu. The U.S. Department of Agriculture expected egg prices to jump 41% this year, according to the AP.

Demand for eggs has fallen, according to a USDA report released last week, and shortages are easing while wholesale prices are dropping, “which might provide relief on the retail side before this year’s late Easter, which is three weeks later than last year,” the AP reported, noting the USDA report indicated “no major bird flu outbreak for two weeks.”