American families – cooped up in their homes practicing social distancing due to COVID-19 – are stress-baking to relieve anxiety about the pandemic, contributing to the number of consumers stockpiling eggs.
“What we’re seeing right now is a mix of panic and fear, as well as trying to find ways to use food to make us feel better,” Susan Schwallie, executive director of food and beverage consumption for market research company the NPD Group, said in a webinar, CFI NOW: COVID-19 and the Latest Consumer Trends, on March 27.
Consumers are using baking as an activity to do with kids that are now home from school and as a calming activity, she explained. Other consumers are worried about the availability of baked goods, such as bread, in stores. Many baked goods can be considered guilty pleasures and bring joy in tough times, which could also help explain the growing interest in baking, the Counsel for Food Integrity Consumer Trust Insights Council (CTIC) said.
“It’s a nice distraction,” Jono Waks, a marketing and public relations professional in New York City told TODAY. “Baking forces you to pay attention. It is a nice break from virus news, stock market news… There is that element that you are breaking away.”
Racing to meet demand
Egg prices in the U.S. doubled in the last few weeks in response to an increased demand for shell eggs by consumers. In some places, shell egg inventory dropped 10% per week over the last three weeks.
Poultry producers are working hard to shore up the supply chain and fill empty shelves.
“The reality is we don’t have twice as many eggs as we did in January,” Russell Diez-Canseco, chief executive at Vital Farms, said. “Most suppliers build in some extra inventory for Easter, but retailers have burned through that inventory.”
Vital Farms shipped more than 15 million eggs to 13,000 grocery stores the week ending March 22, 150% more than usual.
View our continuing coverage of the coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic.
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