The Georgia-based Waffle House has added a 50-cent surcharge per egg to all its menu items due to the rising egg prices stemming from bird flu.
“The continuing egg shortage caused by HPAI (bird flu) has caused a dramatic increase in egg prices,” Waffle House said in a statement on Monday. “Customers and restaurants are being forced to make difficult decisions.”
The company added that it will adjust the egg prices based on market conditions going forward. Since December, the average price of a dozen eggs have climbed to $4.15 with the Agriculture Department predicting a 20 percent price increase this year, according to WCSC.
The Associated Press (AP) cautioned Americans last week that they can expect egg prices to keep climbing well past Easter when demand will be at its highest.
“Bird flu is forcing farmers to slaughter millions of chickens a month, pushing U.S. egg prices to more than double their cost in the summer of 2023. And it appears there may be no relief in sight, given the surge in demand as Easter approaches,” the AP reported.
“Anytime the virus is found on a poultry farm, the entire flock is slaughtered to help limit the virus’ spread. And with massive egg farms routinely housing more than 1 million chickens, just a few infections can cause a supply crunch,” it added.
Grocery stores have resorted to limiting the number of eggs customers can buy.
“It’s just robbery,” Minneapolis resident Sage Mills said upon buying eggs for a birthday cake. “Eggs used to be kind of a staple food for us, but now you know, you might as well just go out to eat.”
Beyond Waffle House, restaurants in various parts of the United States have adjusted their menu prices due to the rising cost in eggs.
“It has affected us already,” says Jared Fish, the owner of Anne’s Pancakes in Elmira, New York told WENY News. “We get most of our food from Performance Food Group. They’ve gone up substantially. I was doing a little price looking back in July of 2023, and we paid $0.99 a dozen for eggs and now they’re right around $8 a dozen for eggs vendor-wise.”
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