Egg cartons on backorder as packaging woes roil supply chain

The packaging backlog in the U.S. is so bad it’s delaying the rollout of new eggs.

A pandemic-era surge in demand for food shipments of all kinds has prompted Egg Innovations, one of the biggest pasture-raised and free-range chicken producers in the U.S., to expand its supply chain to include Malaysia.

New egg cartons are now taking up to 12 to 16 weeks when they used to be ready in 4 to 6 weeks, company President John Brunnquell said in an interview. The same backlog problem exists with corrugated boxes, which are used for items like pizza and shipping perishable food, he said.

Brunnquell said he’s cautiously optimistic that the situation will improve over the next 8 to 12 weeks as more restaurants reopen and absorb some of the demand on grocery-store products. That, “for carton companies is a good thing,” Brunnquell said. “They may finally be able to catch their breath.”