Thanks to a nationwide egg shortage, many people are shelling out more money on breakfast and baked goods. According to the website Food Processing: The Information Source for Food and Beverage Manufacturers, the avian flu (H5N2) outbreak that started in Iowa in mid-April took out more than 31 million chickens and turkeys in that state alone, affecting 77 farms. Statewide egg production in June was 763 million eggs, down a staggering 44 percent from the corresponding month last year.  

According to a recent article by Margery A. Beck of the Associated Press:

The H5N2 avian flu virus began showing up in Midwest commercial turkey and chicken farms this spring. To date, 48 million turkeys and chickens have died or were euthanized to prevent the virus from spreading further….Because of the egg crisis, the U.S. Department of Agriculture lowered its forecast for table egg production this year to 6.9 billion dozen, a 5.3 percent drop from 2014. By late May, the price for a dozen Midwest large eggs had soared 120 percent from their mid-April, pre-bird flu prices to $2.62, industry analyst group Urner Barry said. Prices began falling last week, but officials say it could take up to two years to return to normal production.

Although the last reported case of bird flu was more than a month ago, the shock waves continue to affect myriad local economies, including South Florida’s. Fewer eggs in the market means higher egg prices, and in an area that easily decimates more flan than the entire nation combined, this means trouble.
“Girl, you’re preaching to the church. I live with this every day,” says Steve Crombe, owner of Sweeter Days Bake Shop in Fort Lauderdale.

Sweeter Days specializes in cupcakes topped with Swiss meringue — not the usual buttercream icing. The meringue involves whipping egg whites and sugar over a bain marie (simmering water bath) until they form soft peaks. This both stabilizes and lightens the icing, making it a light, fluffy mousse. The difference is apparent in the finished product, which is generously dolloped with about 40 percent icing.

After rattling off numbers and percentages he’s committed to memory, Crombe’s dilemma is clear: Either raise prices or absorb the cost. (Changing his recipe is not an option.) His choice, for now, is the latter.

“There is a perceived value [in a cupcake]. I have a product that costs $3.30. I can’t take it to $3.75. That’s a huge increase. We want to provide the same great product at the same cost.”