CINCINNATI — With bird flu on the rise in Ohio, many of us at home are seeing the impacts on egg prices. But for local bakeries, the rising cost in eggs is creating a lot of stress.

What You Need To Know

  • Bird Flu has caused an increase in eggs for all consumers in Ohio

  • At Cincy Sammys, that means it now costs $27 for 60 eggs compared to $6 just two years ago

  • The cost is not only an added stressor, but also the ability to get enough eggs for the business to continue 

At Cincy Sammys, it’s easy to get hungry quickly. The bakery specializes in ice cream sandwiches with homemade cookies. But those eggs in each batch are becoming more and more pricey.

Jessica Strudthoff pours eggs into her cookie dough batter.
Jessica Strudthoff pours eggs into her cookie dough batter. (Courtesy of Jessica Strudthoff)

“When we opened we could get 60 eggs for about $6," Jessica Strudthoff said. "And now we are spending about $27 for 60 eggs.”

Strudthoff opened the store two years ago alongside her husband. But things have changed a lot in those 24 months.

“The price is bad enough, but we literally can’t get them," she said. "We can only buy three 18 packs of eggs at Kroger right now at a time. And we used to go in there and buy three or four 60 packs of eggs at a time, a couple of times a week. So we really are at a point now where it’s a can we keep eggs in the fridge?”

Now, each morning as she bakes a new batch of cookies, she worries if she’ll have enough eggs for the next one.

The bakery specializes in ice cream sandwiches. (Spectrum News 1/Katie Kapusta)

“Definitely stress," she said. "It’s definitely a big deal knowing that we cannot work without them and we can’t necessarily get them.”

According to Gov. Mike DeWine, Ohio leads the nation with more than 5.7 million birds affected since the end of February. As a result, more than 15 million birds have been depopulated. Ohio agriculture officials say more than 30% of bird facilities where eggs are laid have had to be depopulated

For Strudthoff, that means what small businesses dread: the debate over whether to raise prices.

Strudthoff scoops ice cream for a cookie sandwich. (Spectrum News 1/Katie Kapusta)

“If we were to raise prices even just a small amount, it would take a lot of burden off realistically," she said. "But we also have loyal customers that have been coming here for two years and supported us when things have been tough, so we hate to shove it off on them too.”

And while there’s no end in sight for the bird flu epidemic and the increase in egg prices, Strudthoff is trying to stay positive.

“Those loyal customers are what have kept us open," she said "And ice cream season is right around the corner.”