Cal-Maine Reports Record Sales and Income Fueled by Record Egg Prices

July 25, 2023

The company nearly doubled its revenue and its profits went up sixfold in its fiscal year 2023.

Remember when the price of eggs was $6 a dozen? Cal-Maine Foods, the country’s biggest egg producer, nearly doubled its revenue and its profits went up sixfold in its fiscal-year 2023 results published today.

Sales were $3.146 billion, a record for the company. Another record was net income: $757 million. The company’s fiscal year ended June 3.

Last year, net income was $132 million, and it was a paltry $2 million in FY 2021.

Not only did the average selling price soar, but Cal-Maine sold 6% more eggs in FY23 than it did in the previous year.

“Our results for fiscal 2023 reflect the extreme market conditions we faced, with significantly higher average selling prices compared with the prior-year period, primarily due to the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) outbreak and higher grain and other input costs,” said President/CEO Sherman Miller. “Prices in the fourth quarter have decreased significantly from the fiscal year’s highest levels as the egg industry begins to recover from the effects of HPAI. At the same time, strong consumer demand for shell eggs supported higher sales for the fourth quarter, which included the busy Easter holiday season.”

The company noted the continuing move to cage-free eggs, for which Cal-Maine is incurring costs. “An important focus of Cal-Maine’s growth strategy is the expansion of its cage-free egg production capacity in line with expected demand. As previously reported, a significant number of the Company’s customers have announced goals to offer cage-free eggs exclusively on or before 2026… Some of these customers have recently changed those goals to offer 70% cage-free eggs by the end of 2030.

“Cal-Maine Foods has made significant investments in its production and distribution capabilities as sales of cage-free eggs continue to increase and account for a larger share of the Company’s product mix. Cage-free egg sales comprised 26.2% and 20.1% of total net shell egg sales for the fourth quarter and fiscal year 2023, respectively.”

About the Author

Dave Fusaro | Editor in Chief

Dave Fusaro has served as editor in chief of Food Processing magazine since 2003. Dave has 30 years experience in food & beverage industry journalism and has won several national ASBPE writing awards for his Food Processing stories. Dave has been interviewed on CNN, quoted in national newspapers and he authored a 200-page market research report on the milk industry. Formerly an award-winning newspaper reporter who specialized in business writing, he holds a BA in journalism from Marquette University. Prior to joining Food Processing, Dave was Editor-In-Chief of Dairy Foods and was Managing Editor of Prepared Foods.