If you’ve taken a trip to Trader Joe’s recently, you’ve probably noticed something new about the shelves—and we’re not talking about the release of seasonal flowers or novelty snacks. Instead, the change is likely to affect your breakfast and baking. The grocery chain is setting a limit of one carton of eggs for each customer per day for the foreseeable future. If your household tends to require more eggs than that, you may have to resort to making multiple grocery trips. Here’s what to know.
Why Is Trader Joe’s Limiting How Many Eggs You Can Buy?
Egg prices have skyrocketed nationwide due to the loss of many egg-laying chickens due to the avian influenza (commonly known as the bird flu). The newest strain, H5N1, was discovered in 2022, and it’s been devastating the country’s supply of chickens ever since. It can take farms a long time to recover from these losses, which leads to even more delays in supplies.
That’s why you’ve seen not only raised egg prices in grocery stores across the country but also egg shortages. Depending on where you live, you might not have experienced any empty, egg-less shelves, but some areas of the country are having shortages with entire egg sections wiped out in stores.
To help customers stock up on the eggs they need, Trader Joe’s has decided to limit each customer to one carton of eggs per visit. The goal is to help the chain’s supply of eggs remain in stock across the U.S.—or at least give customers in shortage areas a fighting chance to nab a carton of their own.
How to Make Sure You Can Purchase Your Eggs at Trader Joe’s
Eggs at Trader Joe’s typically cost around $2 to $4, depending on the kind, and its low prices explain why the chain has been hit particularly hard with shortages. Customers have said that getting shopping done as soon as the store opens helps with adding a carton to your cart. You can also call your local store before heading in to see if they still have eggs in stock. Since Trader Joe’s has no online pickup option, this is the most reliable way to determine if it’s possible to get eggs.
One Reddit post on the thread r/mildlyinteresting went viral for showing that the user’s TJ’s replaced all of its usual egg cartons with strawberries. This is a last resort for stores that are completely out of eggs and can’t receive more shipments right away. As frustrating as it might be for some shoppers, the new limitations are helping to keep stores’ inventories full and prevent shortages like these from lasting.