The cost of breakfast is growing as egg prices hit a record high, orange juice and coffee are on the rise
Inflation around breakfast staples like eggs, orange juice, and coffee is hitting shoppers' wallets.
According to key data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the cost of eggs was up 53% year over year in January. Prices are up 7.2% month over month. Overall grocery inflation is up 1.9% compared to a year ago.
Nationally, a dozen large Grade A eggs cost $4.95 in January, versus $4.15 in December and $2.52 a year ago. That marked a record high, which was previously $4.82 in January 2023.
Frozen noncarbonated juices and drinks like orange juice jumped 7.7%, while the cost of coffee is up 3.1% year over year. Instant coffee in particular is getting more expensive, up 7.1%.
A multitude of factors led to each situation.
For eggs, it comes down to the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), commonly referred to as bird flu.
"Outbreaks continue to hamper hen numbers and egg production," Texas A&M University professor David Anderson told Yahoo Finance. "Young pullets, [which are] chickens before they are hens laying eggs, have to be raised to replace the normal turnover in hen numbers, and they also have to replace those lost to bird flu."
US egg production in December was down 3% from the year prior, totaling 9.12 billion total eggs produced in the month, per the USDA. The agency says egg prices are expected to increase 20.3% in 2025 but could increase as much as 45.3%.
National grocers like Costco and Trader Joe's are taking action, placing limits in the midst of shortages.
"Due to ongoing issues with the supply of eggs, we are currently limiting egg purchases to one dozen per customer, per day, in all Trader Joe's stores across the country," a Trader Joe's spokesperson told Yahoo Finance in a statement.
Restaurants may be making adjustments as well. Waffle House told Yahoo Finance in a statement that it "implemented a temporary $0.50 per egg surcharge to all menus" to target the "surcharge tied to the unprecedented rise in egg prices," adding that it hopes the "price fluctuations will be short-lived."
When it comes to drinks, keep an eye on orange juice.
"Agricultural commodities, specifically orange juice and coffee, are at elevated levels, and we are assuming that will be the case for 2025, and that's been built into our guidance," Coca-Cola (KO) CFO John Murphy said, adding that, tariffs aside, commodities cost growth will be in the low single-digit range for 2025.
The impacts of Hurricanes Helene and Milton, as well as ongoing citrus greening, a bacterial disease, have taken a toll on orange juice production in Florida, Ariel Singerman of the Citrus Research and Education Center told Yahoo Finance over the phone. The El Niño weather pattern has also impacted production in Brazil, which is the largest producer of orange juice.