Omelet surcharge: Waffle House adds extra cost of 50 cents per egg as bird flu wreaks havoc on breakfast prices

[ResidentialBusiness]

The price of eggs isn’t just surging at the grocery store. It’s hitting your favorite chains, too: Now, some Waffle House restaurants are adding surcharges on orders that include eggs.

According to a statement Waffle House posted at restaurants, and emailed to Fast Company, it will be adding 50 cents per egg to customers’ tabs.

“The continuing egg shortage caused by HPAI (bird flu) has caused a dramatic increase in egg prices,” Waffle House said in the statement. “Rather than increasing prices across the menu, this is a temporary targeted surcharge tied to the unprecedented rise in egg prices.”

The statement continued, “Customers and restaurants are being forced to make difficult decisions. We are continuously monitoring egg prices and will adjust or remove the surcharge as market conditions allow.”

While inflation has driven up prices at the grocery store, bird flu is the main reason why egg prices remain high. During his campaign, President Trump vowed to bring down the price of groceries across the board, but egg prices have continued to climb since Inauguration Day. According to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, in the week ending January 18, the price of a dozen eggs was up to $5.29. The previous month, the same item cost $4.15.

As farmers contend with lower output, due in part to millions of hens being slaughtered as a result of bird flu, some shoppers are finding empty shelves where the cartons of eggs once were. And some stores are placing limits on how many cartons customers can buy.

Now, restaurants are also finding their own ways to cope with the egg shortage—especially breakfast chains, which serve them by the millions. According to Waffle House’s website, eggs are its most popular menu item: It serves 272 million of them each year.

A pricier breakfast

This week, as Trump imposed tariffs on China, Mexico, and Canada (before pausing said tariffs on the latter two countries), there’s been much talk about what might happen to groceries, gas, and more in the U.S. If the hefty tariffs hold, experts warn it could cause prices of certain grocery items that largely come from outside of the U.S. to surge.

Kelly Beaton, the chief content officer at The Food Institute, told Fox Business that businesses, like grocery stores, may also pass higher costs onto the customer. One item likely to get a lot pricier, Beaton said, is cereal, “since it’s a common import from all three countries that Trump has targeted with tariffs.”

That means it’s possible that breakfast could get even more expensive, even at the most affordable chain restaurants.

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