Happy Thursday to all,

Eggs:
Once again the egg market remained calm and there were no changes. Things seem to be in balance for the time being. Here is some info we received today.

Weekly Urner Barry quotes for next week are unchanged. Exports and Foodservice are making a gradual comeback and are factors in the firm prices. As Easter approaches, we anticipate adequate supplies to be available.

On Monday of this week, the total national shell egg inventory was up less than 1% compared to last week, and up 4.5% vs a year ago. We expect this to continue increasing as Easter approaches.

Butter:
Butter rose on Friday and began to retreat earlier in the week. Today it jumped back up so we remain priced the same for next week. Only 9 loads have traded so far this week and only 2 moved today. Butter futures are still showing strength. March is showing $1.61 and by October it is as high as $1.80. Futures can be a good indicator but if anything unusual happens it can all go out the window. I would expect the markets to remain firm and rise slowly over time.

Cheese:
The close is higher than the averages so it looks like next week we will go even higher. There were 11 loads of Blocks that moved today.
I am not sure why as it seems like there is an abundant supply of cheese out there. Milk has been plentiful and there was milk dumped at the farms last week due to the weather and reduced ability to get it to the processing plants. From the reports I read the dumped milk should not have affected the markets due to the overabundance of cheese out there in cold storage. Time shall tell.

Oils, Shortening, and Margarine.
This market has been steadily rising for months. Margarine and butter blends as well as the oils are at unprecedented high prices and many have asked why. There has been a lot of export to China which has driven this to the best of my knowledge. I have also heard that there may be a correction in the near future. This market is not in my field of expertise but I felt that it was worth mentioning.

Fluid Cream
Since there is a lag in cream prices as they follow butter the fluid creams did decrease for March. Seeing as butter has been up the last two weeks it looks like in April we will see prices rise.

Cream Cheese:
Cream cheese also follows butter but does not lag behind as much. We raised prices .04 lb. this week and I expect to have to do the same next week as butter did rebound today. I have seen others go up a full dime for next week Please look at our prices on this product line!

All of us at Honor Foods want to thank each and every one of you for your business. We want to wish you a safe and relaxing weekend