US is on egg hunt in Europe to ease prices at home

The US government is on a global egg hunt, seeking exports from countries in Europe and elsewhere to ease a severe shortage that has caused egg prices at grocery stores to hit record highs. Germany, Italy, Poland and Sweden are among the nations the US Department of Agriculture approached to address the shortage brought on by a bird flu outbreak, according to European industry groups. But supplying Americans with eggs would be complicated for foreign producers — and not because of political tensions over the myriad import tariffs President Donald Trump has imposed or threatened to impose on his nation’s top trading partners. Even if they were eager to share, European countries don’t have many surplus eggs because of their own avian flu outbreaks and the growing domestic demand ahead of Easter.

One of the biggest obstacles, however, is the approach the United States takes to preventing salmonella contamination. US food safety regulations require fresh eggs to be sanitized and refrigerated before they reach shoppers; in the European Union, safety standards call for Grade A eggs to be sold unwashed and without extended chilling. “These are two systems that could not be more different,” said Hans-Peter Goldnick, the president of the German Egg Association.

It is common in parts of Europe, for example, for consumers to buy eggs that still have feathers and chicken poop stuck to them. Farmer David Karlsch described the simple process that gets eggs from hens to customers of the family-owned Saballus poultry farm in Schoeneiche, a town just outside Germany’s capital: The eggs are taken from nests, placed into cartons and sold on the premises or from a refrigerated vending machine just outside the property.

“The demand at Easter time is of course very, very high, as many children naturally want to paint eggs,” Karlsch said. Poland, a major egg exporter, fielded a US query about the availability of eggs, according to Katarzyna Gawrońska, director of the National Chamber of Poultry and Feed Producers. The issue of washed vs. unwashed was a major factor as European officials considered such requests, she said. Eggs are not cleaned in most of the 27 EU member nations because of concerns that removing the natural protective coating from eggshells makes them more vulnerable to bacteria, Gawrońska said.

Polish veterinary officials are trying to determine if the country and its farmers can meet US requirements, such as whether the exporting country has a comparable food safety inspection system or a significant bird flu outbreak.

Although European Union regulations state that table eggs “shall not be washed or cleaned,” member countries have some leeway if they authorized egg baths at packing plants decades ago. Danish Egg Association CEO Jørgen Nyberg Larsen said national customs are part of it; washed eggs are the norm in Sweden, for example. But Sweden and Norway have informed the US they don’t have extra eggs to export, Larsen said.

For now, any increased US egg imports from Europe are more likely to arrive in powdered form or other products that can be shipped frozen or dried, Larsen said.

That’s the response Poland’s trade association gave US officials. If the US certifies Poland as a source, the organization’s members would have a limited number of shell eggs to sell but could supply “very large volumes of egg processing products,” Gawrońska said. Processed eggs usually are pasteurized to prevent foodborne illnesses and then used in food manufacturing or by restaurants, hospitals and nursing homes, according to the US Department of Agriculture.

Baked goods, pasta and sauces like mayonnaise are some of the commercial products made with egg powder.

US officials also tried to sound out farmers in northern Italy’s Veneto region for emergency egg supplies, according to Coldiretti, the main Italian agricultural lobbying organization. But Italy only produces enough eggs to cover the national demand so most of the region’s producers said they could not help. Bird flu outbreaks since the start of last year also have taken a toll on the Italian poultry industry. Germany cannot contribute much either. Its domestic poultry industry generates about 73% of the eggs consumed in the country, “and we ourselves essentially have to import eggs from Holland every day to keep everyone satisfied,” the German Egg Association’s Goldnick said.

“We have around 45 million eggs that we can collect from the chicken coops every day, and in America, there’s a shortage of around 50 million eggs a day. That shows how difficult it is,” he said. Other countries the US government contacted include Austria, Norway, Spain and Denmark. The US Department of Agriculture said it secured new egg commitments from Turkey and South Korea in recent months, although it did not specify the amount or type. Imports of liquid, frozen and dried eggs may help free up some domestic shell eggs for consumers, but the US made its appeal for foreign eggs amid a significant deficit; last month, the country produced 720 million fewer table eggs than in February 2024, a decline of nearly 10%. The US also cut its own egg exports to boost supplies at home, the Agriculture Department said. While the informal trade talks continue, the US market has shown signs of improvement. It’s been nearly a month since a major bird flu outbreak impacted egg-laying hens, the department said. It reported the national wholesale price for large eggs dropped to $3.27 per dozen as of March 21, or less than half its peak of $8.15 per dozen on Feb. 21.

U.S. consumers are just starting to see those falling wholesale prices translate to lower prices on grocery shelves, the department said. The big demand for eggs that usually accompanies Easter and Passover could cause prices to edge up again next month.

Trump hasn’t exactly walked on eggshells with the people of Europe since starting his second term. The president’s repeated threats to seize Greenland, a Danish territory, infuriated many in Denmark. His posture toward Ukraine and disparaging remarks from top members of his administration have alarmed America’s European allies.

The European Union, which is the third-largest trade partner of the US, was not exempted from the tariffs Trump ordered on steel, aluminum and automobiles. Bracing for more, it has prepared counter-tariffs on American products. But many officials in Europe say none of that would rule out exporting eggs. Goldnick said an egg producer friend recently told him that “if the price is right, then I’ll deliver.” Any deals made or not would come down to business decisions, he said.

“I have two souls in my chest. On the one hand, I would say, ‘No, we can’t support this system,’ but that’s not the right answer,” he said, referring to the new US tariffs on European goods. “The right answer is we have to help where we can. And it concerns the people. It doesn’t concern the government. You wouldn’t prop them up or anything, but it’s just people’s demand at Easter, for eggs, and that’s just as important to satisfy in America as it is here.”

Associated Press