Cal-Maine Foods, America’s largest egg company, has found fortune in the coronavirus pandemic, with increased sales landing it in the black in the most recent quarter.
Sales for the fiscal fourth quarter were up 62% over a year before, with company executives attributing the increase to consumers staying home and cooking more due to the pandemic. That spike in sales matched, almost exactly, the increase in the market price for eggs during the fourth quarter compared with the first three quarters of the fiscal year, as reported by CEO Dolph Baker. The sales spike gave Cal-Maine a profit of $60.5 million for the quarter, compared with a loss of $19.8 million a year earlier.
The sales increase extended to specialty eggs, like organic and free-range. Specialty-egg sales came in at $133.3 million for the quarter, accounting for about 30% of total sales, and an 11% increase over last year.
Baker said he expects the egg supply to decrease as the number of laying hens goes down.
The office of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued Cal-Maine in April, alleging that the company used the pandemic as an excuse to gouge prices – an allegation the company denies.
