Avian flu has led to an egg shortage and a hike in egg prices, prompting Waffle House to announce Monday that it is adding a temporary 50-cent-per-egg surcharge. Three-egg omelets will now cost an additional $1.50.
In Michigan, new state rules went into effect at the end of last year that may also be impacting egg prices sold here. As of December 31, all eggs sold in the state have to be from uncaged chickens.
Tami Rousch at East Egg Campus near Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo said both have contributed to higher egg prices, though she blamed most of it on the bird flu.
In 2019, Rousch said the price of medium eggs was about $20 for a case of 180. Last week she saw them selling for $91 a case. For a small diner that runs through about a thousand eggs a week, Rousch said the increase cuts into her bottom line.
But she said she heeded warnings of an upcoming price hike and ordered six weeks’ worth of eggs just before the price went up.
"I thought, thank goodness, I just bought these two days sooner," said Rousch, who's hoping that purchase will help the diner ride out the storm.
Rousch said she doesn't have any plans to add an egg surcharge.
“We, right now, are just kind of taking on the extra cost and trying to work on lowering some other things to kind of wait it out a little bit or give it some time.”
Rousch said she can cut costs by finding better deals on other things the restaurant uses, like cleaning products. She said it may not sound like a lot, but a little savings here and there will help the restaurant avoid having to pass the high price of eggs on to customers, at least for now.
“Maybe there's a point where it doesn't go down in a timely manner and we have to raise our menu prices. Right now, we're just kind of in a in a wait and see — we're giving it a month to six weeks.”
