Summary
Trump recently shared a provocative column on Truth Social titled “Shut Up About Egg Prices — Trump Is Saving Consumers Millions,” written by conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
This comes despite Trump’s campaign promises to reduce grocery costs “immediately” and “on Day 1.” Egg prices have soared to record highs, averaging $4.95/dozen in January and exceeding $10/dozen in some regions, leading to purchase limits and shortages.
While bird flu has significantly impacted prices by killing millions of chickens since 2022, Trump has shifted from his campaign stance, recently telling Fox News “Inflation is back” but claiming “I had nothing to do with it” after just weeks in office.
Here’s a picture of egg prices on Saturday March eighth, twenty twenty-five (03/08/2025).
This is in SoCal at Aldi which typically has the lowest prices in the area.
Image transcription: picture of the cost of a dozen eggs on a fridge door in an Aldi grocery store, reading eight dollars and twelve cents.
Limit two eggs per customer
$4 per egg. :(
I see they’re treating eggs like they’re toilet paper with the limit customer sign. Did they think these are flying off the shelf? Who’s buying these, egg scalpers?
Tbh, I don’t think they really care or enforce the limit.
California in particular has higher prices than most of the US because California has minimum cage size mandates, so can’t just sell eggs pulled from the broader pool of US eggs. There’s still a shortage in the broader US, but it’s not as bad as in California.
There’s a limited amount that any one retailer can do about that.
That also apparently passed as a constitutional amendment to California’s constitution, via a referendum from voters, so I don’t think that even California’s legislature could do much about it — they’d have to send another proposition to amend the state constitution to the voter, or get a two-thirds supermajority in both houses.
I’d add that I’m not a huge fan of California’s heavy use of the initiative and referendum, which has led to a lot of the laws that I don’t think are a fantastic idea in California — I think that legislators typically do a better job of evaluating laws than voters giving a quick skim of a law’s title.
It looks like the restrictions only apply to retailers. So in theory, if you wanted to take a trip across state lines to Nevada or Arizona with some coolers and ice, you could legally pick up all the eggs you can use and bring them back to Southern California. Maybe do one bulk trip for friends and family too, doubt that that violates the law either.
https://www.azcentral.com/story/money/business/consumers/2025/02/12/egg-prices-arizona-compare/78416333007/
Arizona:
I mean, egg prices aren’t normally THAT much different though. Here’s a picture from the same Aldi, on July 30, 2024.
$2.97
(I like to take pictures of egg prices)