The shrinking supply of eggs in the United States is affecting restaurant chains, leading many to raise prices or seek more affordable substitutes.
Waffle House has decided to add a 50-cent surcharge for each egg included in its dishes. In contrast, other establishments such as Biscuit Belly, which operates 14 restaurants in six states, have opted to include liquid eggs in certain dishes as a cost-saving measure, according to Bloomberg.
Restrictions have also spread to supermarkets. In New York, some Whole Foods stores are even offering packs of cage-free eggs for $11,99, with a limit of three cartons per shopper.
Due to the shortage in Chicago, retailers like Aldi and Kroger have limited customers to purchasing just two boxes per person.
This has led several liquid egg processing companies to change their production approach and opt to sell eggs in cartons, resulting in a decreased supply of liquid eggs for restaurants.
On Tuesday, the Waffle House chain revealed that it will raise prices on its egg dishes by 50 cents, a decision prompted by recent egg supply shortages due to avian influenza.
The company operates nearly 2.000 stores in the United States, several of them in Florida, and has its corporate headquarters in Georgia. According to a company statement, reported by Efe, the price revision is already in effect.
They are also optimistic that these changes will be short-lived, although they acknowledged their inability to predict the duration of the current crisis.
The rise in egg prices can be attributed to the outbreak of bird flu that has forced the culling of millions of hens since December. This has affected production and caused prices to soar to levels never seen before.
Today, the typical cost of a dozen eggs is more than $7, more than triple what it was a year ago, when the price was just over $2.
The effects of bird flu have forced poultry farmers to cull millions of chickens each month, costing an average of $4,15 for a dozen eggs in December.
