As egg prices skyrocket, Maryland restaurants are adjusting their menus to account for the soaring costs, with some charging extra for egg-based dishes.
Tasty Diner, a Bethesda-based restaurant chain, has yet to raise its prices due to the egg shortage but plans to do so next week. Items such as omelettes, French toast, and burritos will come with an additional charge per egg.
Beth Cox, the restaurant’s manager, explained that while egg prices fluctuate, this surge is unprecedented. “Egg prices go up and down, but I’ve never seen anything like this,” Cox said. “A few cents per egg might not mean much, but for a restaurant that buys 3,500 eggs a week, that’s a lot of money.” The price increase is set to take effect next week, though updating the menu to reflect the change may take some time.
The egg shortage is also impacting customers’ typical breakfast choices. One regular at Tasty Diner commented that the price increase “won’t change my ordering habits,” while another remarked, “I might order something else.”
Waffle House, which uses more than 270 million eggs annually, introduced a 50-cent surcharge for egg-based dishes starting on the 3rd of this month due to the rising egg prices. The chain stated, “We’re introducing the egg surcharge this week and will remove it once prices stabilize.”
The surge in egg prices is attributed to an outbreak of avian influenza, which led to the culling of millions of chickens in December 2022 and January 2023, significantly reducing the supply of eggs. The USDA has forecasted that egg prices could rise another 20% this year, with stabilization expected to take at least another year.
Amid the ongoing shortage, a shocking incident occurred in Pennsylvania on the night of January 31st, when around 100,000 eggs, valued at approximately $40,000, were stolen from a transport truck parked at an egg supplier in Franklin County. The theft highlights the extreme nature of the current egg shortage as demand continues to outpace supply.