“Don’t put all your eggs in one basket” might be an idiom, but it’s become a literal instruction for customers at some grocery chains.
A recent breakout of bird flu is to blame for a shortage of eggs and a sharp uptick in egg prices in the U.S. A dozen Grade A large eggs cost an average of $4.15 in December, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, though it’s not unheard of now for a dozen to cost as much as $12.
As a result, videos on social media have shown hectic scenes in the dairy aisles of retailers like Costco and Trader Joe’s, with empty egg racks, signs informing shoppers of shortages and, in some cases, customers appearing to hoard dozens and dozens of eggs.
“What the hell, have you ever seen this before?” TikTok user @ninav0728 says in a Jan. 29 video where customers stockpile eggs into their carts at an unnamed Costco.
The caption adds that the egg supply was gone in “less than 10 minutes.”
“This is why your Costco doesn’t have any more eggs,” TikToker @the.ibarras says in a Feb. 1 video showing a shopper with a cart overflowing with cartons of eggs.
While most folks express disdain in the comments section, some point out that restaurants, bakeries and other food businesses shop at Costco, too.
Regardless of the intended use of these eggs, the grocers have noticed the stockpiling and placed limits on the amount of eggs a customer can purchase.
“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 said in a statement to NBC News. “We hope these limits will help to ensure that as many of our customers who need eggs are able to purchase them when they visit Trader Joe’s.”
Costco did not immediately respond to TODAY.com’s request for comment.
But social media users have reported similar limits imposed at Costco. TikTok user @lustforadventuremom posted on Feb. 5 that her local shop limited purchases of eggs to three cartons per customer, mirroring comments on Reddit, X and more.
Also on Feb. 5, The San Francisco Standard reported that some Costcos in the San Francisco, California area placed a limit of three cartons per customer.
