Eggs are a terrific natural source of protein, and of course, they make a good breakfast great.
Most Walmart locations sell a variety of eggs, including both name brands and the store’s own private labels.
Have you wondered why their private-label eggs are so cheap? Or whether they sell any range-free eggs? Or even if you can eat them raw?
Well, here is everything you need to know, a.k.a., your complete guide to Walmart eggs.
Buying Eggs From Walmart
What Types Of Eggs Does Walmart Sell?
Walmart sells eggs under its own private labels, including Great Value and Marketside.
They also carry recognizable name brands such as Eggland’s Best, Happy Egg, and Nellie’s Free Range.
These come in a variety of sizes, from medium to extra-large, but large eggs are the most common.
They come in packs as small as six and as large as 18, though obviously, the dozen is the most popular option.
Walmart also carries egg-adjacent products like Egg Beaters, liquid egg whites, and pre-hard-boiled eggs.
How Much Are Eggs At Walmart?
You can expect to pay $1.60 for a dozen large white eggs at Walmart.
(This can fluctuate, of course, as market prices do and where you live.)
One of the things Walmart does best is providing kitchen staples at some of the very lowest prices you will find anywhere.
But they can also surprise you with super-low prices on items that extend beyond what you’d think of as “essentials.”
For example, their Marketside Organic Cage Free Brown eggs cost only $3.68 per dozen.
Knock the organic label off, and you can still get cage-free brown eggs for only $2.48.
Even their most expensive eggs, Happy Egg Brown Organic Free Range Eggs, which come in an 18-count, cost only $7.30.
The same type of eggs at Wegmans cost $7.19 – and that’s only for 12.
Why Are Walmart Eggs So Cheap?
One of the reasons Walmart can sell their Great Value eggs so cheap is that low prices – on anything – are built into their business model.
Walmart’s operations are designed to keep expenses low, so low prices can be passed on to the customer.
However, in terms of Walmart’s eggs, that might come at the expense of the chickens’ treatment.
(Trigger Warning: Animal cruelty)
Animal rights activist PETA details some of the inhumane treatment they claim the chickens, from whom Walmart sources its eggs, must endure.
Because free-range and cage-free treatment is expensive, to sell eggs at lower prices, Walmart might source their product from factory farms.
In these farms, chickens are over-crowded, treated as disposable, and killed prematurely, when their egg production declines.
Are Walmart Organic Eggs Good?
Unfortunately, even Walmart’s organic eggs are not as ethically sourced as we would like.
As recently as 2018, Walmart was faced with a lawsuit that alleged the retail chain misled shoppers over their organic eggs.
The suit claimed that Walmart’s packaging, which states the hens had “outdoor access,” only had a view of the outside; otherwise, they were entirely contained.
Walmart stated in 2016 that they were aiming to go “cage-free” by 2025 for all of their eggs.
Hopefully, we will hear that they are ramping up these efforts as we inch closer and closer to that deadline.
Are Walmart Eggs Cage Free And Free-Range?
In 2016, Walmart pledged that all their eggs would be sourced from cage-free environments by 2025.
A few years later, however, they were sued for misleading labeling.
The suit alleged that while the eggs were labeled as having access to the outdoors, they were, in fact, only given a view of the outdoors.
It isn’t easy to trust entirely when Walmart states that their eggs are cage-free or free-range.
It might be best to assume not and wait for the 2025 deadline and a new round of investigative reports into Walmart’s egg sourcing.
Who Supplies Walmart Eggs?
The company that came under attack when it was named along with Walmart in a suit alleging that hens were not given access to the outdoors is called Cal-Maine Foods.
This company, based in Mississippi, is the largest producer and distributor of eggs in the U.S., and they are the supplier of Walmart’s Marketplace organic eggs.
Are Walmart Eggs Bad?
While Walmart eggs are comparable in taste to other discount-priced eggs on the market, they are, unfortunately, the subject of much bad press.
Walmart’s Great Value eggs and Marketplace organic eggs have been singled out for either inhumane, unethical sourcing (the former) or misleading, fraudulent packaging (the latter).
What Are The Best Eggs To Buy At Walmart?
The best eggs you can buy at Walmart are not from either Walmart labels, Great Value or Marketplace.
Instead, the Happy Egg Organic Free Range eggs are your best bet, though they are the most expensive (at $7.30 for 18).
Online magazine Bon Appetit suggests that the best eggs you can find will come stamped with a Certified Humane or Animal Welfare Approved seal.
In the case of the Happy Egg organic eggs, they are American Humane certified.
PETA recommends egg products like Egg Beaters as an ethical alternative to real eggs.
If you want to know more about Walmart’s food products, you can also read our related posts on how much eggs cost at Walmart, who makes Great Value products for Walmart, and where Walmart’s chicken comes from.
Conclusion
Walmart sells a wide range of eggs and egg products, some of which are more ethically sourced than others.
The mega retail chain has come under fire for the sourcing practices for their store labels Great Value and Marketplace.
But shoppers can’t deny that Walmart’s low prices make keeping eggs in the fridge every day a truly affordable little luxury.
