Falling prices caused dollar sales of eggs to continue to slide during the latest 52 weeks ending June 13. The 7.6% drop in supermarket channel sales during that period follows a 13.2% decline posted in calendar 2009. But, these sharp declines for a dairy department staple are nothing to be alarmed about. Prices have been returning to historical norms, after unusually high feed costs led to significant price spikes for the category in 2007 and 2008.
Consumption of eggs has remained relatively steady. In fact, the category’s best recent dollar sales year was also witness to its worst recent decline in volume. In 2007, rapidly rising prices pushed dollar sales of eggs up 26.5%, to reach $3.2 billion in the supermarket channel. But, volume sales declined 4% that year, and a 1% decline followed in 2008. Shoppers began returning to the category in 2009, when volume sales rose 2% as prices eased.