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Keller’s Farm Stores reunites with egg supplier — at a cost
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Bird flu and subsequent pricey eggs haven’t just affected consumers — they’ve taken a toll on small grocers, too.
Keller’s Farm Stores, an independent, locally owned pair of food markets in Albuquerque, was hit hard by the slaughter of chickens aimed at halting the spread of bird flu. Keller’s was sourcing its eggs from a small farm in Colorado when a round of bird flu wiped out the farm’s chickens about two and a half years ago, said Keller’s owner Mike Phillips.
Wanting to retain its partnership with the Colorado farm, Keller’s waited and hoped the bird — and egg — supply would rebound.
“They were a massive seller for us and it hurt big time when they went away,” said Phillips, who bought Keller’s over three years ago. “We’ve been without for that entire time.”
The good news: Keller’s was recently notified that the farm is back up and running. The team will be heading up to Colorado to pick up a couple of pallets of eggs later this month, Phillips said.
It’s an exciting development for Phillips and his customers, who inquired about the eggs “nonstop” when the stores initially ran out.
While wholesale egg prices have been on the decline nationally — averaging $3.13 per dozen for large quantities, according to a market report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture — Phillips said for Keller’s, getting back into the egg business is “not pretty from a cost perspective.”
“The (wholesale) price is double what it was two years ago,” Phillips said.
The Albuquerque stores were selling eggs for about $2.49 roughly two years ago and are projecting to sell them for $5.99 now, but Phillips noted, “We are not making money on these eggs, not very much at all, not our normal margin.”
