HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WHNT) — If you’ve been to the grocery store lately, you’ve probably noticed in addition to grocery prices overall being high — egg prices included.

According to the Alabama Poultry and Egg Association (APEA), the industry is up about 60 percent from last year. The current price of eggs in Alabama runs anywhere from $4.89 to $8.65.

In Alabama, most of the eggs are imported from other states — although there are a few egg farmers here.

“I have seen eggs go crazy over the past few months… how does that make you feel?” said Charles Varner, a local shopper. “It makes me feel like I’m buying platinum instead of eggs.”

APEA says the COVID-19 pandemic caused the industry to lose employees and bring in new ones at a higher cost. That coupled with inflation and the Avian flu are the three factors driving higher prices.

The Avian flu was largely to blame, according to APEA.

Nearly 58 million birds were lost across states in the last year, that combined with the pandemic and inflation created the perfect storm. The association says farmers have already been working to replace the laying hens that died during the Avian flu outbreak — and steps have been taken to tighten biosecurity at farms across the state.

“We had a series of Avian flu outbreaks in the Midwest where a majority of the eggs in the United States are produced and processed,” said Johnny Adams, the chief executive officer for APEA. “Because of that flu, we lost millions of laying hens and you know that means fewer eggs being laid at a higher cost.”

Tom Watkins, the owner of Moon Bakeshop, said he’s noticed the price of eggs skyrocketing.

“Let’s say, early part of the pandemic, we could get a case of eggs which is 15 dozen for between 25 and 30 dollars,” Watkins told News 19. “Right now, they’re floating around 100… it’s been a huge increase.”

The Moon Bakeshop says they haven’t gone up on their prices. They say they’ve been absorbing the cost increase on their profit end to keep customers happy and the demand for eggs hasn’t gone down.

While they believe production should increase before long, they are unsure of when egg prices and products that contain eggs will go back down.