Oakland donut shop struggles to find eggs amid bird flu shortage

OAKLAND, Calif. - As suppliers navigating the bird flu crisis have cracked down on how many eggs you can buy, small businesses like Donut Savant in Oakland are feeling the bite of higher egg prices.

You may have seen it yourself: egg shelves at popular stores sitting empty. Signs at others saying "Limit: one per customer".

An outbreak of bird flu has torn through commercial chicken flocks across the United States, leaving suppliers stretched and consumers in a bind.

Some shoppers are thankful they have been able to access eggs at all. 

"They’re the jumbos. When you cook, jumbos are a thing, but bigger is not better for eggs… I’m baking still, so, no complaints," Oakland resident Darshan Labang told KTVU. 

But egg prices are higher for consumers. The United States Department of Agriculture says the cost of a dozen eggs in California has increased to $8.97.

Some small businesses are struggling to make up for the lost supply.

"Our products kind of depend on it, so we’ll make it happen," Omar Kamal, general manager of Donut Savant, told KTVU. 

Kamal has worked with the Donut Savant team for eight years, and he says finding eggs has proven challenging recently, but the pandemic gave his team plenty of practice finding items in low supply.

"It’s eggs right now, but it feels like since the pandemic it’s always been something," Kamal said. 

The team has been able to find eggs thus far, but they have to be creative with sourcing and pay higher prices to do it.

"We’re going all over the Bay Area for ingredients sometimes. If we can’t get it in the East Bay, we’re going to the Peninsula or San Francisco.

Eggs are a necessary ingredient for donuts, and Donut Savant pumps out thousands of donuts every day. 

"We are a staple in our neighborhood, and we like having a product that our neighborhood can enjoy. And making that available to everyone is what we’ve been about since we opened here," Kamal said. 

The egg shortage in the Bay Area may be around well into 2025 according to the United States Department of Agriculture, as the culling of commercial flocks left suppliers short on egg-producing chickens.

No matter what 2025 brings, Kamal says Donut Savant will be ready to meet the challenge.

"Being a small business, you’ve seen so many disappear, and we’re ahead of it," Kamal said.