Literally everything manufactured got more expensive in 2022. Everything.
Why would eggs be any different? It's not like they pop out of the chicken and land on your plate - there's a ton that goes into getting them into the store just so you can buy them.
Assuming egg production didn't experience significant cost increases seems precarious without evidence.
It's in the food industry - which suffered some of the most draconian restrictions on personnel and safety measures available at the time. For all we know, half of that cost increase could have gone to just sheets of plastic to hang all over the place and single-use disposable masks, gloves, boot coverings, hair nets and more that all had to be changed several times per day.
It's not Price Gouging simply because we don't like it folks...
> Collusion of the biggest producers would also explain why the more expensive eggs at the store did not rise as much as the cheaper brands
No, not at all. It simply indicates the more expensive brands had enormous margins before covid and were able to keep pricing more stable against rising costs.
Your cheap brands had nowhere to go, except raise prices when costs increase. This is so obvious and basic, it's weird it needs to be said.
Additionally, government policies don't happen in a vacuum folks. Policies made it difficult to produce and manufacture, and shocker - prices went way up. This is not rocket science...