China's eggs are having a moment—of the eye-popping variety for shoppers who are having to open their wallets ever-wider for the national staple. As the New York Times reports, prices for eggs in key producing provinces are more than 40% higher than a year ago and have hit a decade high by at least one market gauge, an uncomfortable twist in an economy otherwise wrestling with falling prices for many goods, including pork. The spike stems from a boom-and-bust cycle among poultry farmers: after a surge in hen numbers drove prices down, many farmers culled flocks heavily, leaving too few laying hens just as demand picked up around exam season and holidays. In an extreme example, the South China Morning Post notes that a Shanghai restaurant went a bit viral earlier this month with a scrambled egg and tomato dish—a national go-to—that it sold for $75 apiece.
Layered on top: higher energy costs linked to the war in Iran, which are squeezing food vendors who also rely on gas. Some, like a Tianjin crepe shop, are publicly blaming President Trump for fuel-driven price hikes, while others, like 25-year-old stall owner Axuan Bu, say they're eating the costs of both eggs and gas. "If you raise the price, people just won't buy them anymore," he tells the Times. For many households, there's little room to maneuver. Eggs account for a meaningful share of food budgets, and as one consumer put it, "No matter how expensive eggs get, you still have to eat. Prices go up, but you can't skip your protein."
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