- Waffle House instated a 50-cent surcharge for every egg sold across its 1,900 restaurants. Egg prices have continued to rise over the past several months due to a bird flu outbreak, causing short supply. Waffle House workers are getting the short end of the stick, already getting “cursed out” for the expensive eggs.
The current price of eggs has consumers and businesses alike scrambling. Costco customers have waited in long lines and started an all-out egg-buying frenzy as low supply and high demand have driven up prices.
And now, one of the biggest egg-slinging restaurant chains in America has reacted to the stiff increase in prices. Waffle House is forcing a surcharge of $0.50 per egg on customers to combat the rising price of eggs.
Between November and December alone, egg prices jumped 8.4%, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Since 2019, the price for a dozen eggs has skyrocketed 160%, according to a CBS Newsprice tracker.
“Rather than increasing prices across the menu, this is a temporary targeted surcharge tied to the unprecedented rise in egg prices,” Waffle House said in a statement to Fortune. The egg surcharge is in effect at Waffle House’s more than 1,900 locations across 25 states.
“As long as they are available, quality, fresh-cracked, Grade A Large eggs will remain a key ingredient in many of our customers’ favorite meals,” Waffle House said in the statement.
Eggs are the most popular menu item at Waffle House, where they serve a whopping 272 million of them each year, followed by 153 million hashbrown orders, 124 million waffles, and 85 million strips of bacon.
While Waffle House said it hopes the “price fluctuations will be short-lived,” the restaurant chain “cannot predict how long this shortage will last.” Waffle House workers are already reportedly getting the brunt of the surcharge.
“The [worker] at Waffle House said they’ve been cursed out several times this morning about the 50 cent per egg surcharge lol.. like it’s their fault,” one X user posted on Tuesday.
Egg prices have continued to rise during the past several months due to a bird flu outbreak. The United States Department of Agriculture reports the avian flu has infected nearly 23 million chickens across the U.S., which has caused a nationwide shortage of eggs.
Making matters worse are newly imposed tariffs on consumer goods, including grocery items like eggs. That sent Costco customers into an egg-buying craze this past week to buy eggs before they ran out and to get them while they’re still cheap. Some people have even joked online that skyrocketing egg prices have forced them to dip into their retirement savings.
Time will tell how long egg prices will remain elevated. But Emily Metz, president and CEO of the American Egg Board, isn’t hopeful.
“Not to be the bearer of bad news, but we’re in this for a while,” Metz told CNN. “Until we have time without a detection, unfortunately this very, very tight egg supply is going to continue.”
The USDA also predicts egg prices will go up 20% this year. Still, Waffle House said it would continuously monitor egg prices until the situation is cracked, and “will adjust or remove the surcharge as market conditions allow.”
