Vital Farms has introduced the True Blues® brand derived from a heritage strain that lays a blue-tinted shell. The product will be available in Whole Foods Market stores in the Southern Pacific region and in the Northeast at a suggested retail price of $9.99. 

The market for a high-priced egg based on shell color may generate one-time sales from a limited number of affluent consumers exercising their curiosity. As with their competitor located in the Northeast, neither unusual shell color nor package claims will have any quantifiable impact on demand or sales in the context of U.S. consumption of shell eggs. Given that there will not be any discernible organoleptic difference between conventional eggs and the specialty product, the color of the shell will represent a substantial premium.

 It is noted that the company markets the product as “pasture-raised” in accordance with previously granted certification.  Given the current epornitic of HPAI and state recommendations to confine flocks, either Vital Farms is allowing outside access, representing a risk that a public-quoted company should avoid, or will deceive customers with an invalid claim.