As U.S. consumers saw price hikes for eggs this year, the largest producer and distributor of eggs in the United States, Cal-Maine Foods, saw record quarterly profits and sales.
The company faced rising costs of its own with operational challenges in the months after the height of the pandemic, but managed to make even more money selling eggs.
Cal-Maine Foods produces for brands like Land O'Lakes, Farmhouse eggs, Sunny Meadow, Sunups and Egg-Land's Best.
Food distributors have complained about a number of serious challenges including an outbreak of avian influenza, called the deadliest in U.S. history. That coupled with supply issues has been the major contributor to higher prices, according to the industry.
The CDCreported that avian flu killed over 50 million U.S. birds since 2022 began, but the company reported that there have been no positive tests for avian flu reported at any facilityowned or contracted by Cal-Maine Foods Inc.
In September of last year, Cal-Maine Foods Inc. reported mixed quarterly results, while warning that the outbreak of avian flu would keep hitting eggsupplies for the rest of 2022.
The company said in September that it factors in conventional eggs and specialty eggs when looking at its price increases on average. Cal-Maine Foods said conventional eggs had a larger rise at $2.368 per dozen in the last quarter of 2022. That was compared to 99 cents a dozen during that timethe year before.
Cal-Maine's net average price for a dozen conventional eggs for that quarter was $2.88, coming out at over double the cost from the year before, according to data from the company.
On Dec. 28, the company reported a 110% increase in quarterly sales compared to the same quarter the year before.
The company said that was driven by the "record average conventional egg selling price,” with Walmart as its largest customer.
