Wholesale egg prices are finally starting to crack, with some relief evident at the grocery store

BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Egg prices have finally started to, ahem, crack at local grocery chains and are heading in a direction for which shoppers have anxiously waited — down.

Some of the cheapest prices spotted Tuesday included $5.79 for a dozen large cartoned white eggs at Wegmans, while prices at Giant were around $5.99 a dozen, with cage-free eggs at $6.69 a dozen.

It’s a decline of $2 to $3 per dozen after months of record highs.

What’s behind the decline?

According to the USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service Egg Markets Overview report, wholesale prices, or what retailers pay to procure eggs, fell as low as $4.78 per dozen for large cartoned shell eggs in the Northeast region — a decline of 33% month to month.

That coincides with reported national egg inventory growing by over 4%, with more retailers seeing stabilized supply.

LehighValleyNews.com reached out to both Wegmans and Giant to determine how retailers are passing savings onto consumers and if prices would continue to fall, but did not receive a response.

In its Lehigh Valley stores, Wegmans advertised purchasing limits on eggs, with signs noting a "limit of 10 cartons per customer."

According to reports, some grocery stores are waiting to see whether declines in wholesale prices hold steady rather than immediately adjusting prices for consumers.

What about bird flu?

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, the ongoing avian flu outbreak, or H5N1 bird flu, remains a concern in wild birds worldwide and continues to cause outbreaks in poultry and U.S. dairy cows.

But according to the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service and the USDA, while tens of millions of egg-laying hens were culled so far in 2025, no significant outbreaks have been reported in March.

"Outbreaks in highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in commercial table egg layer flocks in 2025 have resulted in the depopulation of 30.3 million birds," the USDA said.

It said it had confirmed 40 outbreaks in layer flocks in nine states, including Pennsylvania.

The state Agriculture Department said in late January that a positive case of avian flu was found in a Lehigh County poultry flock — the first case in Pennsylvania in 2025.

The department said the positive test came from a 50,000-bird egg-laying chicken flock on a commercial farm, though it did not identify the farm by name.

With no reported outbreaks nationwide in March, it means flock sizes have once again started to increase, letting egg supplies gradually stabilize.

Will prices continue to fall?

There are a number of variables affecting prices beyond the avian flu outbreak.

The Wall Street Journal reported March 7 that the U.S. Justice Department had launched a civil antitrust probe into potential price manipulation by egg producers.

The investigation would look at “whether large producers have conspired to raise prices or hold back supply,” the story said.

The probe could influence consumer behavior going forward — if that behavior hasn’t already changed.

Weakened consumer demand is contributing to the decline in wholesale pricing, according to the New York Times, but there may be increased demand for eggs heading into Easter.

Overall, economists say prices will largely depend on grocery stores’ strategies, and they may not pass the entirety of savings of wholesale pricing onto consumers at this point.