In this week's episode of The Food Biz hosts Kristyn Tarpey and Ryan Nelson discuss the Avian Influenza going around the U.S. and beyond, and how this could impact Easter.

Ryan kicks off the discussion by explaining the bird flu, a respiratory disease for birds, typically affecting eggling hens. This flu is causing egg prices to skyrocket - passing $3 per dozen on average. He explains that this all comes back to supply and demand. 
 

The bird flu typically spreads through feces, and once the bird catches it, there’s, unfortunately, nothing they can do. They’ve killed off millions of hens already, and they’re having to kill off way more to try to avoid the flu from spreading. This is resulting in a very low supply of eggs right around the time of year that the demand is extremely high with families wanting to decorate Easter eggs with their children. 
 

Our hosts also point out that with this spike in egg prices, it won’t be a cheap Easter, since the other ingredients families might need are in high demand as well. The issues with Russia aren’t stopping any time soon and the wheat and corn supply all over the world is being impacted. India has said they won’t be exporting any of their wheat this year and the U.S. is exporting wheat to Spain for the first time in years. The over-exporting of wheat will lead to higher feed costs too, further spiking prices in agricultural products such as eggs.

Ryan mentions that there are issues with ships as well. There are many ships off the coast of California that are waiting to get into the ports. These ships aren’t allowed to shut off their engines, which means they’re burning through a ton of fuel. With crude at almost $100 per barrel, gas prices, especially diesel, will be through the roof. This will also add to the increased food prices. Another factor that will contribute is storage costs. People are holding on to way more supply than they used to, spiking the cost of storage.

As you can see, there are countless factors currently affecting food and beverage prices. Make sure to subscribe to the Food Biz on Spotify or in the Apple Podcasts App so you can stay up-to-date on the latest information! Also, feel free to reach out to us by email at news@barchart.com with any discussion topics, questions, comments, or overall feedback; Ryan and Kristyn would love to hear from you.