Bird flu impact being felt at western Washington restaurants

The bird flu that has made its way to Washington state is impacting the cost of eggs in a big way.

The high costs are affecting restaurants on top of everything else that’s costing their owners more, too.

Avian flu, or bird flu, is now in six Washington state counties, but more than half are in western Washington.

That’s since May 5, when it was first discovered in the state.

The most recent cases were confirmed Friday in Whatcom and Okanogan counties.

They were both in backyard flocks.

The State Department of Agriculture says there have also been cases in Spokane, Pacific, Pierce and Clallam counties.

Consumers are starting to feel the pinch, especially when they go out to eat.

This is yet another cost as restaurants continue to recover from the loss of business during the pandemic.

So far, at least, the people here at Patty’s Eggnest say they are not passing too much of it on to customers.

But that could change if the cost keeps rising.

They crack a lot of eggs at Patty’s Eggnest.

“Yes, we do,” said Bill Chin, laughing. “That’s the business we’re in. When you think breakfast, you have to think Patty’s. That’s kind of our motto.”

But the cost of the core of his breakfast business is no laughing matter. Chin, owner of five Patty’s Eggnest restaurants, two brothers each own the rest, has watched the cost of eggs skyrocket.

“As of last year, we were paying, I think it was, $17, a little bit over $17, $16 a case for eggs,” said Chin. “And now they’re running about $40, $41 a case. We were told it was because of the avian flu.”

The State Department of Agriculture says several factors can stop the disease from running away.

“Farms having good farm biosecurity, making sure that they’re not spreading germs from farm to farm,” said Amber Betts, a spokesperson for the Washington State Department of Agriculture. “The other factors are environmental. If it starts to warm up, the virus will kind of dissipate in the environment.”

“Eggs, potatoes, pork products, poultry products, beef, produce, everything,” listed Chin.

It’s all gone up in the last year.

“We try to absorb the cost,” said Chin. “And we raise our prices incrementally.”

He says he has raised his prices 8 to 10% in the last two months. But he doesn’t want to drive his customers away.

There is a bit of good news in all this. Avian flu is spread by migrating birds. That spring migration ends next month, so the risk of avian flu should end then, too.

As a reminder, the greatest risk, of course, is to the birds, not to humans.

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