Did you do any egg decorating over Easter weekend? How much did you have to pay for that festive supply? Or did you color wooden eggs, or even dye potatoes instead?
The Hawaiʻi Department of Agriculture recently released its price report for eggs over the past couple of months in the Honolulu area. Local eggs are currently priced at 80 cents per egg on average at the retail level.
"The most important thing we have seen is that the price differential between the local eggs and the mainland eggs have narrowed. In a sense, it means that our local eggs are becoming more competitive," said Matthew Loke, administrator of the state's Agricultural Development Division.
"The supply of local eggs has grown over time, and that is good for consumers, because as supply increases and demand is constant, prices tend to go down."
He said the price of wholesale shell eggs on the mainland appears to be declining, but Hawaiʻi has not seen much evidence of that yet.
"I think it does take some time to shift from the wholesale price level to the retail price level. Especially when there's a holiday season around the corner, retailers tend to maintain their price because demand is steady, if not increasing," Loke said last week.
Eggs are highly versatile, making them a shopping cart staple for many. But like most agricultural commodities, the price of eggs is volatile, he said.
"It fluctuates much more than manufactured goods, and if there is a recession, we would have to make more decisions on substitution to lower-priced products within our income constraints," Loke told HPR.
He said there could be a silver lining to the increased prices: People might pay more attention to excess food waste and portion control.
"If the price of food goes up, I'm expecting food waste to be decreasing. We do waste a lot of food here in Hawaiʻi. Sometimes it's not our fault. In the case like, for example, there's a delay in unloading perishable food at the docks, the sun will get to it," he said.
This interview aired on The Conversation on April 21, 2025. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m.
