What 9 Months in Portland’s Egg Cases Taught Me About Grocery Games

I spent nine months documenting egg prices at dozens of Portland grocery stores to find out why our grocery bills felt so broken in 2025. It’s a project I kicked off in April 2025, shortly after I launched Stumptown Savings, when egg prices were at all-time highs nationally.

I concluded my tracking on Dec. 31, 2025, and now I’ve crunched the data. Over nine months, I recorded more than 4,600 prices. The data reveals a truth that counters the "everything is always getting more expensive" narrative: Portland egg prices actually plummeted 13% between April and November 2025. But here’s the catch — unless you were strategically dodging specific stores and avoiding the "premium brand trap," you probably didn’t feel much relief. 

From pricing strategies that saw the same carton swing by 40% in a month to the "organic tax" that punishes premium choices at conventional stores, the way Portlanders shop for eggs has become a case study in retail tactics that cost shoppers hundreds of dollars a year.

If you think the Fred Meyer on Hawthorne charges the same as the Fred Meyer in Gateway (which closed during our tracking period), the data has some bad news. My 37 weeks of tracking found a 10-15% neighborhood surcharge on identical items within the same chains. Retailers aren't just adjusting for rent; they're charging for your convenience.

The most jarring discovery was the "Sister-Store Shock." QFC, which is owned by the same parent company (Kroger) as Fred Meyer, was charging a 26% premium, on average, for the same store-brand products. In neighborhoods like the Pearl District or North Tabor, shoppers are paying a significant premium for the privilege of a smaller, quieter store. Over nine months, choosing the "convenient" neighborhood stop adds up to hundreds of dollars in lost household income just on eggs.

The most glaring finding in the 37-week tracker is the "Organic Tax." You’d expect the gap between conventional and organic eggs to be narrowest at budget and conventional stores, but the opposite is true. National chains often use rock-bottom prices on conventional eggs as a "loss leader" to get you through the door, only to hammer you with massive margins the second you reach for a premium choice.

Take Fred Meyer as a case study. The jump from their conventional cage-free store-brand eggs ($3.96) to their organic Simple Truth house-brand version ($5.54) is a nearly 40% surcharge. Compare that to New Seasons, where the jump to organic cage-free store brand eggs ($5.33) is just over 14% above their conventional eggs’ price ($4.66), on average. If you are buying organic eggs at a conventional chain, you aren't getting a deal; you are effectively subsidizing the discounts given to the people buying the cheapest cartons on the shelf.

Using an apples-to-apples approach (where the only difference between two egg cartons tracked was that one was organic and the other wasn’t), we were able to determine which stores have the highest organic taxes on average for eggs. 

Stores like Barbur World Foods ($4.55 average organic tax), Market of Choice ($2.95), and Zupan’s Markets ($2.67) had the highest organic taxes. Safeway ($0.50), Chuck’s Fresh Markets ($0.59), and Albertsons ($0.66) had the lowest organic surcharge.

Nowhere is this pricing by zip code more obvious than with national brands like Vital Farms. I tracked hundreds of prices for one dozen of their organic pasture-raised large eggs over the life of the project. This is the same carton of eggs, produced by the same hens, packed in the same box. Yet, depending on where you shop, you could be paying double.

That’s an $8.08 spread for the exact same product, which can quickly add up to hundreds of dollars over the course of a year.

Even local mainstays like Wilcox Farms’ conventional free-range large eggs aren't immune to the grocery games. Because Wilcox is a Pacific Northwest staple, nearly every local grocery store carries it, but none of them agree on what it’s worth.

Costco, which sells them in 24-packs, has the absolute best price on Wilcox eggs, at just $3.45 per dozen. Natural Grocers isn’t far behind at $4.52, and doesn’t require a membership fee — this specialty store actually sells the same eggs for about 75 cents less per dozen than America’s largest grocer, Walmart ($5.25).

In fact, premium stores like New Seasons ($5.37) and Alberta Co-op ($5.49) were both cheaper than Safeway ($6.37). Zupan’s Markets ($8.99) charges nearly twice as much as Natural Grocers for the same eggs. 

Let’s detour and look at store-brand conventional cage-free eggs, the cheapest large eggs you can get in every store. Even here, the average price varies widely, and doesn’t break down the way you’d expect. 

The budget grocers rule here, with Walmart ($2.43), Grocery Outlet ($2.47), Costco ($2.51) — which sells them in minimums of 24 eggs — and WinCo ($2.96) offering the best prices. Interestingly, despite carrying the same store brand eggs from the same producers, QFC ($3.68) actually beats Fred Meyer ($3.96) here. This is in direct contrast to the more than 20% markup QFC typically runs over its sister store.

And if you’re buying cage-free eggs at Zupan’s Markets ($6.78), that adds up to a $226.20 premium over the course of a year.

The data is clear: if you are a "one-stop shopper" who picks up your premium or organic eggs at the same place you buy your paper towels and cereal, you are likely paying a massive premium for that convenience.

If you’re primarily buying high-welfare eggs (pasture raised or organic), the data shows you are essentially choosing between three different "pricing games." Knowing which one your store plays is the difference between a $6.00 and $10.00 carton.

If your priority is the lowest possible price on high-welfare eggs, Natural Grocers is the undisputed champion of the 2025 dataset. They consistently beat even the "big box" stores like Walmart on pasture-raised items, often holding prices for premium brands under the $8.00 mark.

Trader Joe’s follows closely. While they lack the brand variety of a traditional grocer, their $5.99 organic dozen acts as a price floor for the city. For most Portlanders, Trader Joe's is the most convenient way to avoid the "organic tax" found at larger chains.

If you value a premium shopping experience but refuse to pay a predatory markup for organic, New Seasons and Whole Foods are your best "middle ground."

While their base prices for conventional eggs are higher than WinCo or Walmart, their Organic Upgrade Cost is the lowest in the city. At New Seasons, the average jump from conventional to organic is just $0.97. At Whole Foods, their 365 Organic line consistently undercuts the organic store brands at Safeway and Fred Meyer by over $1.00. These stores have thinner margins on "healthy" choices, making them a smarter play for organic shoppers than the budget-oriented national chains.

Costco exists in its own category. As the only store we tracked requiring an annual membership, Costco also stands out for offering eggs only in bulk quantities, with the smallest carton size tracked being 18, and the average carton size being 24-eggs:

If you eat a lot of eggs, nobody comes close to matching Costco’s pricing. With an average of $3.02 across all types of eggs, Costco’s price is less than half of the average of all stores ($6.18) and the next closest stores (Walmart, $4.13, and WinCo, $4.19) each clocking in at over a dollar more per dozen. (That said, you’d need to buy a LOT of eggs for their discount in this category alone to pay for an annual Gold Star membership. Curious if a Costco membership makes sense for you? We’ve built a calculator that will give you personalized results.) 

Our data shows that Costco’s Kirkland Signature Organic Free-Range eggs ($3.76/dozen when bought in bulk) are actually cheaper than the conventional cage-free eggs at 17 of the 24 stores we tracked. If you have the fridge space and the membership, the "upgrade cost" here is essentially zero — you are getting organic quality for a price that beats nearly every other store’s budget option.

Prices at Safeway and Albertsons showed the highest volatility in the city. Over the 37-week period, I documented prices for the same product swinging from $3.49 to $4.99 in a matter of weeks. Without a digital coupon or a sharp eye on the weekly flyer, you are essentially at the mercy of whatever the shelf tag says that day.

Meanwhile, Costco and Trader Joe’s acted as the city’s anchors. They pick a price and sit on it — for months, even when an egg shortage could warrant raising prices. Costco, which sells eggs in 24-packs and larger, had an average price of $3.01 for the year, making it the most consistent value in town for the entire nine-month period. Trader Joe’s held steady at an average of $4.63 per dozen regardless of market fluctuations.

If you buy everything at the same store every week out of habit, you are being exploited. Portland’s 2025 egg market proved that "brand loyalty" is often just another word for "willing to pay more."

The data shows that retailers know which neighborhoods will tolerate a 15% markup and which shoppers will pay a $2.46 "wellness tax" for organic labels. To protect your budget, you have to break the habit. If you eat a lot of eggs, buy them at stores like Costco or Natural Grocers. Treat the big chains as targets for specific deals rather than your one-stop shop. In the Portland grocery market, the house always wins—unless you refuse to play by their rules.

Happy saving!
Bryan,
Stumptown Savings