It’s no secret that inflation is hitting us all right in the wallet.
Bakery owner owner Courtney Johnson has seen a rise in costs for ingredients across the board, but the recent hike in egg prices hit her particularly hard. Nearly all of her recipes call for eggs, and since the avian flu has infected almost 58 million birds in the United States, the cost of making baked goods has skyrocketed.
Courtney runs Sweet Anna’s Bakery out of her home in Dallas, North Carolina. She says she was paying about $2.42 for five dozen eggs about a year and a half ago, but now the same pallet costs almost $25. That makes it difficult to make any money doing what she loves.
Recently, she saw a Facebook post from a local father whose son, Rylen, asked him for a laying hen a while back and now has 21 birds in his backyard chicken coop. The 11-year-old cares for every chicken himself and started a small business called Rylen’s Eggs.
Now that his flock is up to capacity, Rylen’s hens are laying between 18 and 19 eggs everyday. The young farmer and entrepreneur started selling eggs to friends and neighbors for about $3 a dozen. When Courtney contacted him, she instantly became his biggest client to date.
“If you can stock me every week, I will get as many as I can from you,” Courtney told the fifth grader. “And supplement from the grocery store.”
Rylen’s father is helping his son save some of the income he’s making from his egg business, but Rylen gets to splurge on some things. He collects Funko Pop! figures, and his success has inspired grand ambitions. Someday, he hopes to become either a fireman or an NBA player, but he’ll always keep his egg side hustle going.
“These would be my two jobs, I could make 50 grand a year being a fireman and multi-millions (in the egg business),” he said.
Courtney is just glad to get a break on her overhead costs, and she’s happy to help a young entrepreneur like Rylen.
“He is saving me some money and helping, and I love helping him, so thank you so much, Rylen,” she told him.
This seems like a win-win situation! We hope to see more of this kind of symbiotic relationship happening as we work together to weather trying economic times.
It would be eggs-ellent if you’d share this story.
Want to be happier in just 5 minutes a day? Sign up for Morning Smile and join over 455,000+ people who start each day with good news.
