I've been doing my own grocery shopping for the past 58 years. I open the egg carton to peek inside and check the bottom for wet spots. And I'm aware of the pricing. Yesterday on a weekly visit I was somewhat startled by the low price, so I searched for a chart. Found this one at a Federal Reserve website:
The gap in the curve several months ago reflects the absence of data that occurred during the government slowdown/shutdown, but the trend is clear.
The fallling price was a somewhat startling revelation since my focus (and most consumers' focus) has been on rising prices for gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, fertilizer etc etc since we started the war, and the anticipated roll-on effect on other commodities and goods. I had frankly forgotten about the reason for the spike upward in egg prices in recent years, which is explained here.
Lots of other interesting data available at that Federal Reserve website for those interested.
Medium brown eggs = 89c a dozin.
ReplyDeletep.s. at my Market Basket (Warner, NH), the checkout always opens and checks the eggs for any broken ones (or to see if you tried to sneak in an extra one), and then puts a rubber band around the egg carton, so it does not open inadvertently.
Today I learned that some people try to sneak an extra egg into a carton...
DeleteToday I learnt that American egg cartons have unfilled egg spaces.
Delete@William Rocket: They don't. This is what our egg cartons look like: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D324NFV4/
DeleteThe only way I can think of to sneak in extras would be to not close the lid. Which would be reckless, frankly.
"Do you want egg all over your groceries? Because that's how you get egg all over your groceries."
It's intersting to me that the pulp paper cartons are listed as "recyclable," because I think I've heard in the past that the pulp fibers are so degraded that the material can't re re-used. Biodegradable and compostable - sure, but recyclable I have doubts.
DeleteThanks for advertising FRED. Happy to see a blog I follow use it.
ReplyDeleteI just paid $12 for 18 eggs. (Free Range and all that.) Haven't seen any eggs under $4/doze.
ReplyDelete?? why. Alaska? Food desert with unscrupulous grocers?
Delete"Paying $12 for an 18-pack works out to about \(\$8.00\) per dozen, which is actually right on par with the Three Bears Alaska going rate for premium, free-range, and specialty eggs in the state."
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I pay about $7 for a dozen from a local farm (available at the regular grocery store), so $12 for 18 seems reasonable. The regional grocer's cage-free eggs run about $5/dozen. The "regular" eggs are under $2 also, but I assume those are caged birds which I can't bring myself to buy (I also buy local meat as much as possible, even though it is a lot more expensive).
DeleteSorry, anon. I apparently missed seeing your free-range specification. Your price makes more sense now. We also get some cage-frees at Target, where they are currently about $5/dozen.
DeleteJust this week I purchased a dozen extra large eggs for $.99. No, it was not an advertised special or a loss leader- just a dozen eggs for $.99 (SW Ohio grocery)
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