Egg white cost question?

June 4, 2008 1:35 PM

Why do 100% egg whites cost 2x more than 99%?

I like egg whites, they're good for a number of things. I just wonder... why do they charge so much more for the 1% extra? You'd think that by not having to add all the stabilizers and stuff, they'd save on the cost. It doesn't make sense.

posted by emptyinside to food & drink (12 comments total)

If they have no preservatives, they probably have to be stored more carefully and shipped faster.
posted by restless_nomad at 1:40 PM on June 4, 2008

Plus they cannot hold them on shelves as long and therefore there is more waste.
posted by Pollomacho at 1:44 PM on June 4, 2008

Possibly because it costs more to precisely separate 100% pure egg whites.

More likely because consumers who care about that last 1% are willing to pay more.

Fact is that it's much cheaper just to buy whole eggs and separate the yolks from the whites yourself -- what you're really paying for is convenience.
posted by randomstriker at 1:44 PM on June 4, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

My guess is that they separate the yolks from the whites mechanically and that the 100% whites have tighter tolerances and are therefore more expensive to produce.
posted by JMOZ at 1:45 PM on June 4, 2008

IANAn agricultural economist, but I would guess that randomstriker is right--its a form of price discrimination to take more money out of the pockets of the people that really care about that remaining 1%.
posted by jtfowl0 at 1:54 PM on June 4, 2008

They quite probably come from the same stock, and may just be separated by quality control. Thirding the price discrimination.

I know they do this with beer - they brew dozens of batches, and blend them together to meet the taste and quality standards for each brand. Let no skunky beer go wasted!
posted by anthill at 2:08 PM on June 4, 2008

They might be cream skimming but also setting some of that profit aside for lawsuits if they actually only get 99.9% and someone sues.
posted by acoutu at 2:37 PM on June 4, 2008

Randomstriker is essentially correct; The reason 100% egg whites are twice as expensive as 99% egg whites is that enough people will pay twice as much for 100% egg whites to make it profitable. If enough people were willing to pay four times as much for 100% egg whites, 100% egg whites would be four times as expensive.

The more interesting and harder to answer question is "Why are people willing to pay twice as much for 100% egg whites?".
posted by Justinian at 2:44 PM on June 4, 2008

the extra 1% can also be the difference between a fluffy meringue and a fallen batch of whipped egg whites - small amounts of fat interfere with the processes by which egg whites get all fluffy when beaten.
the margin of difference can be what makes or breaks any baked good requiring beaten egg whites for structure or leavening; angel food cakes, meringues, soufflés, and certain icings wouldn't work nearly as well with yolk involved.
posted by heeeraldo at 2:46 PM on June 4, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

Well, I suppose the important question - to which I don't actually know the answer - is, what is the other 1%? If it's preservatives, that suggests the base cost might be different. If it's egg yolk, that suggests it's more of a perception-of-purity thing, and the demand might be different.
posted by restless_nomad at 2:46 PM on June 4, 2008

Randomstriker's second answer presumes that it's impossible for newcomers to enter the market and begin selling 100% egg whites for a lower price. After all, if it were only 1% more costly to produce 100% than 99%, without artificial limitations, someone could start selling it for merely 50% more rather than 100% more, and undercut the current sellers by 25% with little effort.

Unless there's a hidden DeBeers-like monopoly on eggs in your area, or a set of remarkable protectionist regulations, go with the first answer.
posted by yath at 7:19 PM on June 4, 2008

Actually, yath, dairy markets (and agriculture in general) are widely uncompetitive throughout the OECD. Huge monopolies and oligopolies, with protectionism and subsidies (i.e. corporate welfare) galore.
posted by randomstriker at 4:20 PM on June 6, 2008