San Francisco’s Joe Warne took one look at the empty shelves Saturday and almost cried, “No fucking eggs!”
Not at the Safeway on Monterey Boulevard where Warne had hoped to find them, nor at the Trader Joe’s on nearby Winston Drive.
“This is crazy!” Megan Berry said as she stared at the barren counters at Trader Joe’s where the eggs should have been. She was hoping to stock up after returning from a trip to Missouri and Florida for the holidays. But what lay before her were just a few open cartons, stained with cracked contents.
In fact, customers across California are struggling to find eggs, and the problem has worsened over the past week. It’s like they’ve all been caught.
Megan Berry of San Francisco was hoping to stock up on eggs at the Trader Joe’s on Winston Dr. He had no such luck.
Nanette Asimov“Due to the nationwide egg shortage and to support all customers, we are limiting egg purchases to 2 cartons per customer,” said a statement at the Whole Foods on 20th Avenue in San Francisco. The store had cartons for sale, but the shelves looked like an incomplete omelet with empty spots.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that nearly every state was affected by at least one bird flu outbreak during the year, with hundreds of cases affecting nearly 58 million wild and domestic birds.
Representatives for Whole Foods, Safeway and Trader Joe’s did not respond to requests for comment Saturday.
In San Francisco, a Trader Joe’s customer named Tom stared at shelves as empty as a chicken coop during a meal. A reporter said bird flu was the obvious cause of the missing eggs, but Tom called that an exaggeration.
In fact, he said, “it’s an excuse to kill chickens.”
Why would chicken farmers want to kill their chickens?
“This is the trillion-dollar question,” said Tom, who declined to give his last name “because of the political situation.” He compared the egg shortage to the war in Ukraine and the pandemic. His girlfriend looked at him indicating it was time to go.
“We
I did
I want to buy some eggs,” Tom added as he looked longingly at the sign advertising extra large cage-free eggs for $3.99. “I’ll probably go to Whole Foods where they’ll be triple the price.”
Not exactly. They were $10.49.
Gian Lopez of Daly City loaded his allowed two cartons into a cart.
“Eggs,” he explained, “are part of a healthy diet.”
Whole Foods on 20th Avenue in San Francisco limits egg sales to two cartons per customer.
Nanette AsimovBut Lopez wasn’t about to dwell on the shortage. “Things happen,” he shrugged. “Eventually, they’ll come back and get better.” That’s their job.”
It was not clear whether he was referring to the farmers or the hens.
At Safeway, Melissa Le Biavan of San Francisco said she and her husband like to eat eggs in the morning, and recently she was thwarted twice when trying to buy them.
That’s not only inconvenient, she said, but scary when you consider bird flu. “It makes me want to get my own chickens.”
Whole Foods, on 20th Avenue in San Francisco, limits egg sales to two cartons per customer.
Nanette AsimovMost stores, including Safeway, had egg substitutes for sale, such as “Egg Only.” The yolk-colored container said “made from plants.” Its ingredients include mung bean protein isolate, pressed canola oil, tetrasodium pyrophosphate, salt and sugar.
Warne, who was shopping for brunch, said he wouldn’t give a penny for this product.
“Fake eggs? No thanks, he said. “I guess I’ll just get some wine instead.”
Nanette Asimov is a contributor to the San Francisco Chronicle. Email: [email protected]
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