9 February 2-8, 2023 miaminewtimes.com | browardpalmbeach.com New Times | Contents | Letters | news | night+Day | CuLture | Cafe | MusiC | The USDA’s Egg Markets Overview for January 2023 re- ported that overall inventory is 20-23 percent lower than last year. This is possibly due to the bird flu epidemic that’s been ravaging flocks across the nation. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 58.1 mil- lion commercial, wild, and backyard birds have been infected with H5N1. When avian influenza hits an egg factory, the farmers usually slaughter an entire flock in a barn to prevent the spread. But Farm Action is crying foul on those blaming the bird flu for low inventory. The real culprit, the organization claims, is “a collusive scheme among industry leaders to turn inflation- ary conditions and an avian flu outbreak into an opportunity to extract egregious profits reaching as high as 40 percent.” Egg producers have withheld production and increased prof- its fivefold, it contends. The leading distributor, Cal-Maine, who holds 20 percent of the egg market share, enjoyed a ten- fold profit increase, going from $50 to $535 million in 2022, according to Vice. Regardless of the reasons, egg prices have increased dra- matically, and almost nowhere more than in Florida, where the cost of a dozen eggs is the highest in the U.S., second only to Hawaii, where they average an astonishing $9.73. According to data from the grocery app Instacart, the average cost for eggs in Florida is $6.36. That’s a 57 percent increase from last year. In South Florida, the average price for a dozen eggs is $6.67— a 48 percent increase. If you want cage-free, organic, or any other specialty shell egg, or if you prefer to support smaller markets that broker with sustainable farms, you’re looking at a range of $7-$10 per carton. Miami home cooks have taken to social media to boast about where they’ve found the cheapest cartons. Walmart is a popular choice; large white eggs currently go for $3.96, and organic, cage-free brown eggs are $5.14. But if you don’t live near the big-box store, you’ll spend the difference in cost on gas or delivery. You likely see some changes at your favorite restaurants as well. Chefs use eggs not just as a whole item for breakfast and brunch dishes but also to leaven baked goods. They’re added to ground meat to bind. They’re used as a wash before coating proteins and vegetables with breadcrumbs. They’re added to everything from batters to cocktails. (That frothy part of your drink is often egg white.) Surely wholesale eggs that restaurants buy are less expensive? According to Akino West, chef and co-owner of Rosie’s: the Backyard, that’s not necessarily the case. West, who was re- cently named a semifinalist for a James Beard Award, only serves cage-free eggs on his all-day brunch plates, which are so popular he orders at least a half dozen cases of large eggs per week. Last year, he says, he was paying $30-$40 per case for them. This year? They’re $101 per case. As a small business owner, West can’t simply absorb the costs in a trade-off for customer loyalty. He also won’t re- place shell eggs with liquid egg products, which can be less expensive, or use other shortcuts. Nor is he planning on changing his dishes. “If a chef is willing to slack on ingredi- ents or not take them seriously, then he’s doing an injustice to his guests,” he says. “I stand by my product and my menu.” He cites his mentors, Niven Patel and Michael Beltran — re- cently nominated for James Beard awards — for teaching him this methodology. He says he can be upfront with his customers and let them know that prices might be slightly higher because of his own rising costs. “We’re open to being vulnerable,” he says. He also is considering moving a class down from large to medium eggs, which go for $68 per case and “are barely smaller.” Then he can keep the rest of the plate the same portion size. “The availability of eggs is fine as long as you are willing to pay,” Mike Herchuck, director of operations at American So- cial Bar & Kitchen, says. “Thankfully, we have worked with our produce provider to ensure there is no compromise in quality, even if it costs more.” Jim Pastor, the corporate executive chef at Rusty Pelican, echoes this, saying that he can still purchase eggs with no is- sues. But he emphasizes that most restaurants will get allotted a certain amount based on their purchase history and that prices are currently double to triple what they have been in the past. That inflation is currently budgeted into the daily running of the restaurant. “We haven’t raised our prices since we only use eggs twice a week for brunch, and it’s on a select few dishes,” he says. “We just absorb the cost and keep our guests happy.” He also hasn’t considered changing the menu — yet. Instead, he looks for other ways to save. “As a team, we know we have to make it up somewhere else.” Pastor won’t con- sider egg substitutes. “Liquid eggs are something we just can’t use, based on our recipes and the quality we want to maintain,” he says. American Social is equally as willing to soak up those ex- tras. “Our position is to absorb the cost of the eggs to do what is right by the guest and not sacrifice the guest experience over a temporary profit loss. We feel the brand loyalty that comes from that approach will more than offset any financial loss,” Herchuck says. Herchuck has entertained the idea of using liquid egg, which runs $99.99 for a pasteurized 30-pound pail. (One pail contains about 225 eggs.) But he could only use it for battered items or as a wash. “Most of our egg presentation is done over easy or sunny-side up,” he says. “But even with omelets and scrambled, we will stick with the shelled eggs. We consider them the hero of the dish.” At the same time, however, the egg crisis is allowing Amer- ican Social to do some repositioning and creative marketing, especially when it comes to highlighting brunch items. Non- egg items are being featured on social media and in other ma- terials. And while nothing has changed on the menu, an upcoming reprint might list non-egg items first. On-the-spot ingenuity in other hospitality sectors such as catering and event management is not always possible. Nor is changing prices, menus, and dishes, says Dewey LoSasso, cor- porate executive chef for Bill Hansen Luxury Catering and Events. While the company has seen an eight percent increase in costs across the board, they accept events, write menus, do tastings, and set prices six months to two years in advance. They can’t just change them because ingredients have gotten costlier. There are contracts involved. “That’s the biggest issue,” LoSasso says. “We have to up- hold the price, so we have to eat the cost. It decreases the mar- gins, but we have to honor the commitment. We can’t change the prices like if we were a restaurant.” That’s something to think about if you’re about to start planning an event. The catering prices now will reflect the current supply chain issues, general inflation, and this contro- versial eggflation — even if they were to reduce in the immedi- ate or near future. Pastor waxes philosophically about this. “In the food-and- beverage business, there’s always some variable that we can’t control,” he says. West is a little wrier. “I’m curious when this is going to end,” he says, “especially when I see the price of chickens themselves actually going down.” LoSasso, on the other hand, notes that costs are increasing exponentially on yet another unlikely ingredient: romaine. “It’s through the roof,” he says. So while egg prices might start dropping any day, espe- cially as the FTC could begin looking into it, you might want to prepare yourself for the salad-mageddon. [email protected] “The availability of eggs is fine as long as you are willing to pay.” No one has been spared by the rise in egg prices. Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
