South Jersey businesses scramble to cope with sky-high egg prices

Joccola Thomas opened Kreamies Bakery shop a year ago and the Bellmawr sweet shop has done well.

The Pennsauken resident sells cakes, cupcakes, cheesecakes, pies, cookies and more and has a steady stream of customers at her shop.

The recent surge in egg prices has definitely impacted Thomas. She estimates that she uses about two cases of eggs in a week.

Consumers saw average prices jump 60% in 2022 across all egg types, according to the consumer price index. That jump is among the largest percentage increase of any U.S. good or service, according to CNBC.

“It’s not just the eggs,” Thomas said. “It’s cream cheese, butter, all of that stuff really fluctuates. I think one week the eggs were like $65 or something. (Recently), I went in there and they were $55."

Thomas said staying competitive with larger bakeries means absorbing some of that fluctuating cost rather than pushing it to the customers.

“The small bakeries, sometimes they’re forced to still shop in smaller stores to get things they need because they’re not to the point where they can afford to buy things by palette size.”

Experts point to an outbreak of avian flu in explaining the recent price surges, but pandemic pressures have been squeezing egg users and producers for a while.

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“I know for us it’s the cost of feed and the delivery of our feed,” said Emily Borota, who owns Borota Family Farm in Burlington County with her husband Nicolae.

Their eggs go for about $9 a dozen and are sold directly to customers. “They come right to our driveway,” said Borota, whose organic farm has chickens, pigs, turkeys and cows.

The pair bought the farm, located in Florence Township, from Nicolae’s father two years ago. It’s been in the family for a century. Supply chain issues having been chipping away at the business since the pandemic began, he said.

“With all the shut downs, the mills that mill the grains, they were having a hard time getting the actual grains they needed to mill to do that. That’s a huge expense. It’s our choice to make sure we get the best quality products, but that also comes with an added price because we can’t control the price of the feed and the shipping of the feed,” Nicolae Borota said.

For 47 years, Anna Cantoni and her family have operated a bakery, first as Upper Crust, then as Crust N Krumbs in Vineland.

“We understand the prices went up on everything but not the price increases we’ve seen,” Cantoni said. “… I understand the feed (costs). I know plenty of farmers. But we as a small business, we have to put in the price increase and that hurts our customers to shop with us.

Her daughter recently opened another bakery, Krumbs Cafe, in Vineland.

“The first week the egg prices went up, she literally called me and was crying because she’s more like a breakfast and lunch place. She said ‘oh my God, mom. How can egg prices go from one to the other just from last week?’ I said ‘Robyn welcome to being in your own business baby.’"

Ted Kopsaftis, owner-operator of Amy’s Omelette House locations in Long Branch, Burlington City and Cherry Hill, says they have had to raise their prices to keep up with the rising costs.

“Depending on location, we use anywhere from 15 to 20 cases of eggs a week,” he said. “Each case has 30 dozen eggs, which on a monthly basis adds up to a large increase in cost. Recently prices have started to come down. Hopefully that trend will continue.”

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Millville’s John Worthington feels the pinch of egg prices as well. He says he’s gotten the same thing for so long, the waitresses at the diners he frequents already know what to bring him.

“But in the last year the price has soared, to the point where I have had to cut back on the number of days I get breakfast,” he added. “A simple plate of scrambled eggs, potatoes, toast and coffee was a little under $5, now it is $8 or more.

“Hopefully when this bird flu issue is resolved, egg prices will come back down, but of course the question is, will the diners bring their prices back down with them or have we set a new floor?”

Celeste E. Whittaker is a news features reporter for the Courier Post, Daily Journal and Burlington County Times. The South Jersey native started at the CP in 1998 and has covered the Philadelphia 76ers, college and high school sports and has won numerous awards for her work. Reach her by email at  cwhittaker@gannettnj.com.

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This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: South Jersey businesses make adjustments for egg hikes