SCRANTON, LACKAWANNA COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — The Easter season is here, which means there’s even more egg buying at the grocery store. But this year the price of eggs is skyrocketing and leaving consumers scrambling.
Workers at Gerrity’s Supermarket on Meadow Avenue in Scranton are busy stocking the shelves with cartons of eggs.
The easter season staple is at the top of Tom Enkulenko’s grocery list.
“Usually we buy a dozen a week,” said Enkulenko.
But many families I spoke to are prepared to cut back on buying them, thanks to a recent surge in prices due to the avian flu outbreak.
The average price for a carton is currently around $2.88. It’s up 52% since millions of chickens nationally began getting infected in February.
“By far, this is the highest prices we’ve ever seen on eggs. Right now, we are sitting at double the price,” stated Joe Fasula, co-owner of Gerrity’s Supermarkets.
Fasula says he ordered eggs in bulk months ago to run special deals and keep up with demand.
But those perishable eggs won’t stay good for long, and he’s concerned about what happens next as 24 states including Pennsylvania deal with a poultry outbreak.
“If it continues to spread, and they have to continue to reduce the chicken population, then the market might not come down. So, we could see sustained high prices for eggs for quite a while, and I don’t think anybody knows when that could end,” explained Fasula.
Many consumers like Enkulenko are frustrated with inflation as a whole and the impact it’s having on their wallets.
“It’s tough on the working man because he can’t make ends meet with what he’s living with paycheck to paycheck. And when you see gas prices and the price of your groceries going up like they are, it’s a terrible thing,” expressed Enkulenko.
According to the CDC, the risk to the general public from the avian flu outbreak is low, and there are no food safety issues.
