The largest egg producer in the United States has seen a profit spike due to increasing higher egg prices amid the inflation under the Biden administration.
Cal-Maine Foods, the largest egg producer in the US recently released a report and revealed that its revenue has doubled and its profit has surged 718% last quarter because of the sharply higher egg prices.
According to Reuters, the company, which controls about 20% of the egg market in the US, claimed that its average selling price for a dozen eggs during the quarter ending in February 5 was reportedly $3.30 which is higher than the average of $1.61 a year earlier.
In a report published by CNN, it was revealed that “despite the higher prices, the total number of eggs it sold edged up 1%, so its overall revenue rose 109% to $997.5 million. That doubling of revenue was nothing compared to its profits, however. Net income soared to $323.2 million from only $39.5 million a year ago.”
On March 30, New York Post also reported that “Shares of Cal-Maine Foods, the Jackson, Miss.-based company and the only egg producer that is publicly traded, were up more than 3.4% as of 10:46 a.m. on Thursday.”
The biggest egg producer in the U.S., Cal-Maine Foods, reported a 718% increase in profits, thanks to the rising cost of eggs.
Is corporate greed to blame for sky-high egg prices?
— with @yelmjouie pic.twitter.com/PQC8SKpFDj— AJ+ (@ajplus) March 30, 2023
Moreover, amid the crisis, politicians blasted egg producers’ pricing decisions, accusing the latter of profiteering and price gouging.
Last month, Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Katie Porter wrote a letter to Cal-Maine and other major egg producers last month, arguing that “American families working to put food on the table deserve to know whether the increased prices they are paying for eggs represent a legitimate response to reduced supply or out-of-control corporate greed.”
In response, the company explained that its egg production facilities had been hit by avian flu which also forced farms to cull more than 58 million chickens and turkeys since the outbreak struck the country last year.
“The bird flu pandemic has led to a tightening of supply of eggs and other poultry products, causing a spike in prices. The average price of a dozen eggs in the United States stood at $4.11 in February, up from about $2 in February 2022, according to the St. Louis Federal Reserve,” New York Post added.
