Egg prices continue to rise

KANKAKEE – Just as autumn weather was beginning to give way to winter, Jerrimy Robinson was getting a big chill from food suppliers for his Kankakee restaurant.

Robinson, the owner-operator of Carlo’s Restaurant, a west Kankakee mainstay, could only sit back and watch as the price of eggs began to soar and soar and soar.

Since late October and early November, Robinson and every other restaurateur across Kankakee County – and the country for that matter – have watched the continuous rise in cost of eggs.

And for places such as Carlo’s, 2060 W. Station St., or Yolks & Berries, 505 Bradley Boulevard, Bradley, are two of numerous businesses trying to keep egg off of their face as they manage the ever-rising costs of this restaurant staple.

Robinson said since late October, the cost of eggs has increased by 150%.

He said an order of 30 dozen extra large eggs had cost him $78. His most recent purchase was for just over $240.

“They have gone up every single week,” he said. “We all think it’s going to go down, but it just keeps climbing. This is putting a big bite on us.”

Shoppers feel the pinch

Restaurants are not the only places where the effects of historically high egg prices are being felt. Within the aisles of local grocery stores, there is also sticker shock.

Kankakee County grocery stores had eggs as high as $7.99 a dozen. Some sales brought the price down to $6.49, but even with that, these are prices never experienced before.

And while there may be some reason for this sharp increase, chief among them being the effects of bird flu, an illness which led to the destruction of flocks across the country, creating an egg shortage, the cost of eggs has been growing yearly.

A dozen eggs could be purchased only a few years ago for 99 cents.

Egg prices have more than doubled since the summer of 2023. The U.S. Department of Agriculture predicted a 20% increase in eggs for 2025.

As late as December 2024, the average price for a dozen of grade A large eggs was $4.15. That cost represented an almost $2 increase from the $2.15 mark for a dozen eggs in December 2023, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

And for shoppers who buy eggs a dozen at a time – or a dozen and a half at once – the prices are noticeable.

Cheyanne Williams, of Gilman, was in the dairy department of a local grocery store. While she wasn’t buying eggs on this day, she said she and her son, a 3-year-old, consume about a dozen eggs a week.

She said she will keep buying the product, and the price spike has less to do with chickens, but more to do with politics.

“Eggs are in everything,” Williams said. “I bake a lot. My use hasn’t changed. I won’t change my diet because egg prices went up.”

Only a few feet away, Carol Hoover, of Kankakee, placed two, 18-egg cartons in her shopping cart. The sign above the eggs she gathered showed each carton was $8.94. A dozen large eggs at this location were listed for $5.97. Jumbo eggs were $6.82 a dozen.

“I’m shocked,” she said.

She said many people think it is not good to eat too many eggs. She said the high price might be a good excuse to change her diet a little bit.

‘Up every week’

Hoover is not alone with her dismay.

Lambros Proutsos, owner of Yolks & Berries, said as prices continue to rise, he will be forced to adjust his menu prices. His customers consume about 25 cases of eggs each week – right around 8,600 eggs.

“They go up every week. What I’ve been told is that there is no end in sight,” he said.

Proutsos said eggs are not the only product to have increased in price. He said coffee, meat, energy, insurance and wages have also climbed.

According to reports, as of this past week nearly 159 million commercial chickens have been lost to avian influenza since February 2023.

In January, more than 23 million birds were killed, up from 18 million in December.

Some restaurants, in an effort to lessen losses, have instituted a 50-cent, per-egg surcharge.

Nationally, a dozen eggs comes in at $4.95 in January. In August 2023, a dozen eggs was $2.04.

Proutsos said the simple fact is when it comes to serving breakfast, an egg is a part of almost every item on the menu. It’s almost impossible to escape the egg unless ordering a bowl of fruit or a bowl of cereal.

“Eggs are in waffles, French toast, omelettes, skillets, biscuits and gravy,” he said. “And we serve a lot of breakfast. It’s the backbone of our business.”

The restaurant owners don’t like talking surcharges, but it is not out of the question.

“Everyone wants to work and make money,” Proutsos said. “We are trying here. It’s a sensitive issue to raise prices. People have to understand, for us to do what we do, we have to raise prices.”

Businesses are getting stuck making very difficult choices.

“We are in business to make a profit,” he said. “Hopefully people understand. We are just trying to keep up with the expenses we are dealing with. We certainly don’t want to cut back on quality or quantity.

“If we get free eggs, I would love to give people free omelettes,” he said.

And as the price of eggs rise, so does the stress level of business owners.

“Eggs certainly aren’t the only thing that have ever gone up. You either pass it along or you eat it,” Proutsos said. “But you can only eat the expense for so long.”