NORWOOD, Mass. — Eggs are the lifeblood of any breakfast joint and doesn’t Edmond Pogace know it. Pogace, owner of Sunrise Breakfast in Norwood Center, scrambles and fries about a thousand eggs a week. But lately, he’s been more concerned with getting eggs than going through them.
“The shortage of eggs is unbelievable,” Pogace said. “You have to know somebody (at the wholesaler) to let you know when the eggs come in and you have to go. Otherwise, you can’t find eggs.”
The egg industry blames bird flu for the shortage — along with increasing demand.
Last month, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) reported 15 outbreaks of bird flu on egg-producing farms. That forced the culling of around 14 million hens. So far this month, nearly four million hens have been lost after three egg producers reported outbreaks.
“The national egg supply has been tight due to Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza—also known as HPAI or bird flu—which is devastating to egg farmers,” said Emily Metz, president and CEO of the American Egg Board. “In the U.S. we’ve lost about 40 million laying hens this year to bird flu.”
Eggs are in decent supply at some grocers, but Pogace can’t afford to pay supermarket prices. And so lately, every week, he makes multiple trips to the wholesaler in the hopes of finding enough eggs. Last week, he was unsuccessful.
“We had to serve pancakes or French Toast,” he said. “No eggs last week.”
And when he can get eggs, Pogace’s paying for them — a lot. He says that since bird flu began three years ago, the price of eggs has tripled.
“It’s time to survive,” he said. “Nothing else.”
Down the road at the Big Y supermarket, eggs aren’t even an option.
“I was doing my regular grocery shopping and I noticed there were no eggs,” said one shopper. “There were signs up. The whole thing was empty.”
“There were a couple of notices about avian flu,” said another shopper. “They’re doing their best to work on it.”
Boston 25 News contacted Big Y’s corporate headquarters in Springfield to find out why its stores are devoid of eggs while others, including Star Market, Stop & Shop and Costco, seem to have ample supplies.
Amy Diliberto, manager of communications for Big Y, stressed that it’s a nationwide problem and that a number of factors have helped create the shortage – including high demand for eggs around the holidays and the time it takes for chicks to mature into egg-laying hens. She says Big Y is addressing the issue every day and seeking out new avenues of supply. Diliberto expects the egg situation should ease up by mid-April. As for why other grocers DO have eggs in stock – Diliberto said the situation is the same for all supermarkets in that it’s inconsistent: One day they may have a supply of eggs, the next day they might not.
One shopper complained that it seems the price of egg beaters has gone way up in the absence of actual eggs.
There’s no sign avian flu (H5N1) is slowing down. In fact, just the opposite. Last year, the virus began infecting herds of dairy cows. So far, the CDC reports 924 herds have been affected by bird flu — with those outbreaks spread among 16 states.
Last year, nearly 70 U.S. residents became infected with H5N1 — in most cases after exposure to an infected animal. One of the infected died earlier this year.
Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts.
Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW
©2025 Cox Media Group
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/7QOJU3BNCJERBNKJC5LWTBYFLU.png)
