At Phuoc Thanh, a Vietnamese banh mi bakery in Melbourne’s CBD, manager Alex Nguyen carefully counts the trays of eggs delivered every morning. A few months ago, she wouldn’t have thought twice about it. Now, every carton feels like a gamble. 

“The price keeps jumping every week,” Alex told DScribe. “Our business has absorbed price increases that are double what we paid last year. It’s the craziest increase ever.” 

For months now, egg prices have skyrocketed following Australia’s bird flu outbreak, which led to mass chicken culling and supply shortages.  

Australian shoppers hungry for eggs have faced a familiar sight: empty supermarket shelves, strict purchase limits, and apology signs. But for bakeries like Phuoc Thanh, where eggs are a staple ingredient, the crisis is hitting harder. 

“Banh mi is egg-heavy, not to mention our homemade butter, bacon and egg roll, egg salad, and pastry which are also on the menu. People come to us for our high-quality rolls. It’s the heart of our business,” Alex said.

Rather than passing the cost onto customers immediately, Phuoc Thanh has had to bounce between different suppliers almost weekly to source eggs. Phuoc Thanh is also considering “egg replacers, such as soy lecithin (that) can substitute 5 per cent of eggs”. Alex is cautious about not using too much, as she wants to preserve the ‘integrity’ of banh mi. 

But these workarounds come at a price. “We’re cutting into our profit margins and it has impacted quality but we’re holding off on raising prices for now,” Alex said.  

Despite the uncertainty, there’s a glimmer of hope – egg prices began dipping slightly in early April.  

“We just want things to go back to normal,” Alex said.  “We’ll see.”