Elysabeth Alfano is the CEO of VegTech™ Invest, an Advisor to a food innovation ETF. She is a consultant to multi-national companies focused on sustainability and an Advisor to C-Suite interested in understanding the growth and whitespaces in the food industry. She is also the host of the podcast, The Plantbased Business Hour on iTunes and vegconomist.
In this guest post, Elysabeth Alfano discusses the factors driving the rise in egg prices, focusing on the impact of disease outbreaks and the inefficiencies in the global food supply system, along with the need for innovation to lower costs, improve access, and reduce health risks.
Why Are Egg Prices Skyrocketing: Again?
We have all been feeling the pressure of rising egg prices. Why are egg prices up so much…again? The answer illustrates the non-resilient nature of the global food supply system. Let’s take a look.
A financially honest look at the chicken industry
- Almost 80 billion chickens a year live in filthy and overcrowded factories, and this spreads disease.
- Disease eviscerates the bird stock and sends prices soaring.
- Since the living conditions don’t change, neither do the economics. Repetitive Bird flu spreads through factories, usually to birds, but also to humans and cows, again and again keeping prices high.
- Can we change the living conditions and thus chance the economics? No, changing the conditions makes the cost also higher, eradicating the already slim margins of the industry, which can be negative or as low as $.01 per pound.
As feeding people is not optional but mandatory, this necessitates innovation to find a more efficient, less destructive way to feed a growing population without the constant risk of pandemic.
The numbers
The numbers show that bird flu isn’t new and that as we continue our intensified factory practices, the bird flus remain uncontained, presenting continued pandemic risks and, therefore, continued economic and health risks.
NB: These numbers do not reflect the other animal-borne pandemics of African Swine Fever, Classic Swine Fever or Mad Cow Disease.
Chronologically
1997: The first known human infections occurred in Hong Kong, leading to the culling of approximately 1.3 million chickens.
2003-2004: Outbreaks began in Asia, notably in Vietnam and Thailand, and spread to ten countries within weeks.
2005-2006: The virus spread to Europe and Africa, with significant outbreaks in countries like Nigeria and various European nations.
2015: The United States experienced a major outbreak, particularly affecting the Midwest.
2020-2025: A prolonged global outbreak has been ongoing, with significant impacts in North America, Europe, and Asia.
Economically
- According to a February 2025 CBS News article, over 148 million birds have been euthanized in the US due to the H5N1 strain alone in the past year. This is just one strain of bird flu.
- Human cases of bird flu were 67 people at the time of the writing of the article, with one human death.
- Egg prices have surged by 37% over the past year, with the cost of a dozen large Grade A eggs reaching $4.15 in December 2024.
The above exemplifies an inefficient and un-resilient system, along with a system that is prime for innovation to keep prices lower, access to food higher, and exposure to disease and rising healthcare costs lower.
What does this mean for investors?
A food system that continues to break due to disease will inevitably, and most likely quickly, experience a transformation via innovation due to necessity. Innovations that are efficient, cut costs and build resiliency have a better chance of being accepted en masse. En masse adoption can create financial upside and wealth growth, making this sector an attractive investment opportunity.
As just an example of innovative companies in the VegTech™ ETF, Tate and Lyle and Corbion have created egg replacements for baked goods that can:
- Bring down costs
- Create resilient supply chains
- Use one less allergen
- Appeal to more diets.
In short, these innovations reduce the costs of doing business and thus help to create better company returns.
As the food system shows its weakness, now may be a good time to invest in food system transformation through our VegTech™ food innovation ETF. The VegTech ETF aims to capitalize on the potential growth that can come from the necessity of change in the global food supply system.
