APPLETON, Wis. — It has been a tumultuous time for many dealing with high egg prices due to the Avian Flu.

For one northeast Wisconsin bakery, it’s not their only struggle.

Nea Hahn owns Whisk and Arrow. She said scones, macaroons, cakes and cookies are big sellers.

Hahn said that the desserts inside her shop require a lot of one important ingredient.

“We go through over 100 dozen eggs a week at the shop,” Hahn said.

The number of eggs needed to run her business is compounded by cost. Hahn said a it’s a big problem dealing with the cost of eggs because the price she’s paying has doubled in a year.

“I paid six dollars a dozen before last year, three dollars a dozen. So, that’s a lot,” Hahn said.

Andrew Stevens is an assistant professor of Agricultural and Applied Economics at UW-Madison.

Stevens said he expects higher egg prices to stick around for a while.

“I think the current elevated egg prices will be around for the foreseeable future, at least several months, probably through most of this year, if not longer. It all really depends on how long this bird flu virus sticks around and how significantly it will impact,” Stevens said.

Stevens said most of the eggs consumed in the U.S. are produced in the U.S. So, he said it will take a significant amount of time to replenish flocks killed off by the Avian Flu.

“It can take almost six months to go from losing a flock of egg-laying hens to replacing that flock,” Stevens said.“It can take almost six months to go from losing a flock of egg-laying hens to replacing that flock,” Stevens said.

It’s not just egg prices that’s making things tough for Hahn. She said her bakery is also dealing with rising chocolate prices. 

“It’s a double whammy right now, with the chocolate, there’s chocolate that we used to pay, you know, $50 for a bag of chocolate, and it’s now like $79 to $89,” Hahn said.

With chocolate and egg prices high, Hahn said she’s looking at shifting to selling more food products like soups.

During these tight times, she hopes customers continue to shop small.

“This is not the first time or the last time the eggs have been an exorbitant amount of money or chocolate or flour or sugar. You know, we’ve had to deal with other crises, but for small businesses, our cash flow is very important. So just make sure that you keep supporting small businesses,” Hahn said.