Costly eggs push some New Mexicans to get creative for Easter

Monique Chavez would buy dozens of eggs for her two kids to color during past Easter holidays. This year, the Albuquerque mother is opting for plastic and wooden eggs instead.

Persistently high egg prices have prompted Chavez to hunt for more affordable alternatives.

“I have to search around for different prices. I can’t just pick up eggs at the local store. I end up going to Sam’s Club to get a better deal,” Chavez said. “For Easter, what it’s impacting is we’re going with plastic eggs... and we went to painting eggs, like the wooden eggs, instead.”

Chavez’s experience is a common one for families across New Mexico, where steep egg prices at the store persist for many, even as wholesale prices have dropped — a development that industry experts hoped would trickle down to consumers heading into the holiday weekend.

A market report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture showed demand for eggs grew in the week before Easter and that prices to the consumer have “eased” since the beginning of the year, though “remain at levels not yet conducive to more than normal” purchasing needs.

The Consumer Price Index, or CPI, data showed the average price for a dozen large eggs across all U.S. cities was $6.23 in March, up from $3 at the same time last year and a 33-cent increase from February. The CPI measures the change in average prices consumers pay for products over time. A CPI report for April will be released next month.

Chavez said the prices she’s been seeing are between $6 and $8 per dozen.

March marked the third straight month of record-setting egg price averages. Outbreaks of avian influenza — commonly referred to as the bird flu — among the country’s bird flocks have contributed to the high prices. In January and February, farmers killed some 30 million egg-laying chickens, a measure to prevent the spread of the disease.

Amanda Bridgman of Albuquerque also shifted Easter plans due to the high prices. Bridgman, the owner of Mrs. Sprinkles Ice Cream Parlor in the Northeast Heights, teamed up with The Pink Bus and Wild at Art for a spring celebration event at the parlor that took place on Friday, where families participated in a variety of Easter crafts and activities, including egg decorating and hunting.

Seeing high costs and stores like Costco selling out of eggs prompted Bridgman to make a big ask of event attendees.

“It was weird to ask families to bring their own eggs,” Bridgman said, adding she would have “100%” preferred to supply the eggs if she could. “But it is what it is.”

While 94% of Easter observers will dye eggs this year, 78% of families said they would dye fewer than in past years due to the expense, The Associated Press reported, citing the egg-dyeing kit supplier Paas. Other families are exploring alternatives such as dyeing potatoes or marshmallows.

That’s taking form in Albuquerque, where families are exploring alternatives to the Easter egg dyeing tradition.

Michele Ruehle, a local mother of two, went the do-it-yourself route. A week before Easter, Ruehle said that, in addition to having her boys dye a few eggs, she planned on adding to the experience with a new tradition this year: coupons.

The coupons, stuffed inside plastic eggs along with other goodies, can earn the kids anything from a Slurpee or soda to 10 extra minutes of staying up before bed, a trip to McDonald’s, the ability to pick dinner for one night or a Mrs. Sprinkles Ice Cream Parlor date. The boys can cash them in whenever — extending the Easter fun past Sunday.

“I feel at Easter there’s a lot of pressure to use regular eggs. ... My kids understand the Easter bunny works in bulk these days, and that’s why there’s so many plastic eggs. I think that there’s so much more mystery that can be done with using reusable eggs,” Ruehle said. “Easter isn’t about the eggs, it’s about making your own traditions.”