Walmart to Restrict Egg Purchases in Texas – What’s the Limit?

If you stop in at Oakridge Smokehouse Restaurant in Schulenberg Texas for breakfast you are in for a treat. The seats are nice and comfortable, the coffee is always hot, the toast is always Texas-sized, and the eggs... Well, the eggs are the bone of contention in Schulenberg, San Antonio, Dallas, Houston, Austin, and just about any other Texas town that has a restaurant that serves them.

Texas and the rest of the nation are facing an egg crisis. The problem is two-pronged. One prong of the problem is the price. None of us are used to paying about five bucks or more for a dozen large eggs. The second prong of the problem is that even at that price, some folks are having trouble finding eggs to buy. 

If you look at averages, the average American will consume some 281 eggs over the course of a year. That's not quite an egg a day for every day of the year but it's a pretty significant amount. Of course, not all eggs are consumed at breakfast. Most eggs are used in other foods and recipes, that's where most of us get our egg intake.

But as far as breakfast goes, you've probably heard what Waffle House has done to combat the higher-than-expected cost, right? They've instituted a surcharge of .50 cents on egg dishes. That extra surcharge is temporary. At least, let's hope it's temporary.

The reason egg prices have risen is because of an outbreak of Bird Flu. That illness has decimated many commercial flocks that provide egg production for the United States. Because production has been decreased the prices have increased. Yet, the demand for eggs has not waned.

That's why major retailers including Texas Walmart Stores are now implementing restrictions on how many eggs can be purchased during a single shopping trip. I have to admit, I don't think the "limit" will affect most of us. However, I do think, talk of limits will mean a run on eggs and that's why they'll be harder to find in Walmart and other stores around the state as well.

CNBC reported yesterday that Walmart plans to limit customers to two-60 count cartons per purchase. For the average household, 120 eggs is more than we can consume before they go bad. However, for consumers who use a lot of eggs the limitations could become an issue.

Walmart says the limits are to ensure availability of eggs for anyone who needs them and they hope the limitations will also help curb the rising price of eggs across the nation. And there is good news for consumers in the latest USDA Egg Price Forecast. If the current bird flu outbreak does not worsen consumers could see falling egg prices as early as April.

The latest forecast from the World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report suggests that by mid-April prices for eggs could be closer to $2.50 a dozen. That price drop is forecast to continue through the year bringing egg prices to $2,10 a dozen by the first of October 2025.