The best time to try egg substitutes is now
Post-COVID, egg prices get higher and Dollar Tree stops selling them
It’s not your imagination. Grocery store receipts have continued to look a little different (read: higher) post-COVID. That includes egg prices, which have risen since the fall of 2022. Consumers did get a short break with Grade A eggs costing $4.21 for a dozen in February versus $4.82 in January, but the prices still don’t mirror pre-COVID rates.
The egg pricing isn’t all about COVID-19 though. There was also recent news about an ongoing bird flu outbreak that cost the government approximately $661 million. Vegans (and some vegetarians) cringed at the news of more than 58 million birds being slaughtered while omnivores understood it was intended to limit the spread of the virus. Regardless of what a consumer’s views are on slaughterhouses, from a cooking standpoint, all groups may be able to meet in the middle.
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With low-priced retailers throwing in the towel on selling eggs, this is as good of a time as any for consumers to consider egg substitutes. Online and brick-and-mortar prices for plant-based eggs are now in the same price range as traditional eggs.
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Some of the more popular egg substitute brands include:
JUST Egg (available at Whole Foods Market, Jewel Osco, Target, Walmart)
Good & Gather liquid egg substitute (available at Target)
Follow Your Heart (available via Instacart clients)
For shoppers who don’t need eggs as the main course but instead to blend other ingredients, here are some plant-friendly ideas if egg prices are just too high to afford. The following eight items are about half the price, have a longer shelf life and can arguably blend just as well. There are some caveats though.