ROANOKE, Va. – As egg costs stay high in grocery stores, small businesses are having to adapt.
For the Love of Sweets bakery in Roanoke is one of those small businesses just trying to get by.
“It’s affected everybody,” Owner Aleisha Daniels said. “Even at your local diners, you can see it. You know, breakfast has probably gone up a couple of dollars, and it’s been hard for everybody.”
[READ MORE: Data shows egg prices have more than doubled in past year]
Daniel uses about 60 eggs on a weekend to make her cookies and cakes and during wedding season that number doubles. Daniels said those 60 eggs used to cost her about five dollars at the beginning of last year, but by the end of the year, she paid $23.
“It’s definitely made me reevaluate my prices,” Daniels said. “Unfortunately some of that has had to pass onto customers, and I’ve had to take a couple things off my menu that I would offer that just aren’t feasible anymore.”
Dr. Mike Persia, poultry nutrition professor and researcher at Virginia Tech said on top of inflation, the bird flu is to blame for the recent price rise.
“This outbreak is a little bit different than previous outbreaks,” Dr. Persia said. “Typically it will hit in the spring and then by the summer it goes away, well this strain actually came back really quickly after the summer months.”
Persia said rebuilding the chicken population will take time. It takes four to five months until a new chicken can lay an egg.
“Unfortunately, I don’t have a crystal ball to predict when,” Dr. Persia said. “Especially with this new flu, how long is it going to be in the environment, how long is it going to be affecting our farms?”