ST. GEORGE, Utah — If you're like me and you're putting together a grocery list, you have a little bit of sticker shock especially when it comes to eggs. When I spoke to others, they shared the same experience.
"You know, it seems like every time I come to the store, they've gone up in price again," said St. George shopper, Samantha Burt. "So I haven't bought eggs for around three weeks now."
A year ago, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, a dozen eggs would cost someone close to two dollars. Now, the same dozen costs between six to nine dollars depending on where you live in Utah.
"Yeah, they went up in price, no doubt about it," added shopper Bruce Jones.
Why you should look at local Utah farms to buy eggs during shortage, bird flu crisis:
It's not just consumers dealing with sticker shock. We listened to store owners like Tim Rigby, co-owner of the independent Digby’s Market in St. George, share his side of where things are.
"I mean, we know how the customer feels, know the farmer feels. We're right there in the middle feeling the same way. We wish we could bring them down as much as we could," he explained.
Like most Utahns, local family bake sale feels price pain of egg shortage:
Rigby added that egg substitutes are growing in popularity, which despite their name usually still includes real eggs with the addition of citric acid to make fewer eggs go a long way.
"I just use egg substitutes because I don't know if anything could warrant paying those prices right now," said Burt.
