ATLANTA — Moving forward beyond last year’s egg shortages, prices, and the still present threat of bird flu, how are America’s egg producers looking to market their product in 2026?
To answer these questions, Poultry Times again had the opportunity to sit down in an exclusive interview with Emily Metz, American Egg Board president and CEO, during the recent International Production & Processing Expo in Atlanta, Ga., to talk about what is happening currently with egg sales, and what some of the goals are for the upcoming year.
“I think that we are starting off the year in a very different place than where we started off last year,” Metz said. “Last year, we were at the height of bird flu. Our industry was in a devastated place. And from a marketing perspective, as the nation’s marketing organization for America’s egg farmers — we were in a very tough spot because it is really hard to market eggs that aren’t on store shelves.”
She noted that the group effectively paused its marketing efforts to shift into more of a crisis communication mode in an effort to preserve consumer’s trust in U.S. egg farmers, to counter any false information and to communicate that the roller coaster of egg prices did not stem from anything nefarious, but was the result of bird flu on the nation’s egg-laying farms, and that “egg farmers are price takers not price makers.”
That was one of the egg board’s drumbeats to consumers last year, and Metz noted that, as a result, preserved the trust with egg consumers.
“When you look at our insight data now, consumers know about bird flu,” she said. “They know the devastating effect that it had, and they respect how our farmers continue to rise above and persevere when it comes to this deadly virus.”
On the horizon for 2026
“Fast forward to now, we are in a very, very different position,” Metz noted. “Wholesale egg prices are at a record low, 25-year lows according to recent numbers. So, my phrase is: demand, demand, demand. That is the charge that I am giving my team at AEB. It is to focus on demand. We are doing that in a couple of ways. I would say that some of the emergency levers that we are pulling right now are to turn on every kind of marketing partnership that we can.”
She noted that among upcoming partnerships involves one with Instacart, an online tech service that facilitates grocery shopping. The goal will be to increase the frequency for consumers to purchase a dozen eggs.
“We tell consumers how affordable eggs are, and how amazing and versatile that this protein is compared to other proteins,” Metz said.
AEB is also going to be collaborating with foodservice partners to increase egg promotions.
“Now is a time where we have a very common value with our restaurant partners like Wendy’s, like McDonald’s, like Chick-fil-A,” she noted. “They are struggling to get people in the doors, because people are worried about their bottom line. Now is the time that as those establishments are doing value meals or discounted menu items, we can help with marketing and promotion. We have reached across the bridge to our foodservice partners and we are saying, how can we help right now? The egg farmers and egg industry wants to be a solution for you. You are struggling the same way we are right now; how can we help each other?”
The egg board is also looking into shared promotions with influencer marketing, streaming services, and social media on new menu innovation.
“Now is the time that we can be looking at new sandwiches or menu items that we can be testing and generate some new excitement and buzz and generate more people in the door,” Metz said.
Innovation can be viewed as a medium- and long-term play, she added.
“Innovation for me is, as our consumer continues to get younger, how can we get that consumer to think about eggs differently and how can we make eggs more accessible to them in a convenient, easy to use way that maybe does not require a whole lot of cooking,” Metz noted. “This younger generation does not want to bring out the fry pan. How can we get eggs in things like beverages, into heat-and-eat items, into convenient snacking items.”
“We also have a huge win right now that everything is about protein, protein, protein,” she added. “Everyone is talking about GLP-1 drugs, and we are the perfect partner for that if you are needing to get your protein intake up. Eggs are a perfect solution.”
International markets
“We know that last year our exports were a pretty small percentage of production, the 3 to 4 percent basically went to zero because we didn’t have enough eggs for our country, much less anyone else’s,” Metz said. “That paradigm has shifted now. So, how can we flow eggs very rapidly into the global market?”
She added that among the goals of U.S. egg exports is to create a strategic, long-term presence in some of the key market areas like Southeast Asia and Japan.
“How do we become a really consistent partner with those countries and consistent supplier to those buyers?” she said. “We have partners with companies that are expanding internationally. The beauty of Southeast Asia is that it really is a gateway market for a lot of the world. We might be sending in egg product, whether it be liquid or dry, and they are reformulating that and re-exporting products they are making with our U.S. egg products. That is the kind of thing that we need to invest in, so that is another area where we are putting a lot of focus and a lot of dollars this year.”
Building on dietary momentum
“There are a lot of exciting things happening, and this is our moment for eggs,” Metz said. “I feel strongly that despite the roller coaster on price; there is so much positive momentum behind eggs.”
She also noted the current push for more protein items, which were included in the new, recently released federal Dietary Guidelines.
“With the new Dietary Guidelines, eggs are front and center,” Metz noted. “We have Secretary (Robert) Kennedy saying that he wants every American to eat two eggs a day. That’s the type of excitement that you can’t replicate. That is the type of positive momentum that we need to continue.
“Make America Healthy Again — there is no protein that makes America healthy again quicker than the Incredible Egg.”
