SALT LAKE CITY — It’s been an expensive year for grocery shoppers with the cost of chicken and eggs hitting its highest price point yet.
Many families had to adjust their budgets and hope the new year will bring lower costs. FOX 13 News asked the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food what costs are cyclical and what costs are here to stay.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the cost of eggs jumped 49 percent since this time last year.
“I think it's terrible for people that are on a budget or set income,” said concerned shopper John Papanikolas. “They’re being destroyed by inflation.”
“I would say that in the last month or two I’ve really noticed it,” said shopper Alda Muyskens.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average price of chicken is starting to drop. It’s only declining by a few percentage points, but it’s the first time the product’s cost has decreased since July 2021.
Bailee Woolstenhulme with the state Department of Agriculture and Food said the increase in the cost of eggs is partly due to 2022’s avian flu outbreak.
“We’ve had over a million chickens that had to be depopulated in Utah alone,” she said.
Winter has stalled the outbreak, with no new reported cases in Utah since November. Farmers are concerned a second wave could come in the new year.
“They’re anticipating there may be one just simply because Europe had had this strain of Avian influenza and they just finished their second year,” said Woolstenhulme.
The last time egg prices jumped this dramatically was back in 2015 during the last avian flu outbreak. Costs were able to stabilize afterward, but customers say they’re “cynical” and believe the high numbers are here to stay.
“We’re shopping for two of us whereas so many families have many more,” said shopper Jim Muyskens.
