Despite dramatic increases in egg prices, one of the region’s largest makers of eggnog says the price of that holiday beverage is -not- rising. Betsy Watson, spokeswoman for the Des Moines-based Anderson-Erickson Dairy, acknowledges egg prices have jumped from 80-cents a dozen on average to a dollar-40 in some Iowa stores, but the dairy is unaffected, as are eggnog drinkers. Watson says the dairy negotiated its egg pricing some time ago so there’s been no price hike. She says there -has- been a boost in eggnog sales in 2003.Watson says it takes three-thousand cows to produce the cream needed for each eggnog season. Production starts in October and runs into early January. Each year, the dairy makes 800-thousand servings of eggnog in quart containers and 12-ounce bottles. She says sales of light eggnog have increased, an indication people are watching their diets more than last year.She says A-E Dairy has been using the same eggnog recipe for 40 years. It’s distributed to stores in Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska and Kansas.
