If you go to a Waffle House, you may be surprised with a surcharge added to your bill.
The Norcross, Georgia-based diner chain has added a 50-cent per egg surcharge on orders because of the bird flu outbreak, The Associated Press reported. The surcharge went into effect this week and applies to all menus.
The outbreak caused an egg shortage that has made the price of eggs skyrocket since farmers are being forced to kill millions of chickens each month to try to curb the disease.
Farmers have had to kill 108 million chickens, 75 million were egg-layers, since January 2022. In November and December about 17 million hens were killed after the virus had a resurgence, CNN reported. The US Department of Agriculture said that was about half of all chickens killed by the virus last year.
In December, the average price of eggs was $4.15 a dozen with the USDA predicting that prices will increase another 20% this year.
American Egg Board president and CEO Emily Metz said, “Not to be the bearer of bad news, but we’re in this for a while. Until we have time without a detection, unfortunately this very, very tight egg supply is going to continue,” CNN said.
Officials at Waffle House said they don’t know how long the price of eggs will remain high.
“While we hope these price fluctuations will be short-lived we cannot predict how long this shortage will last,” Waffle House said, according to the AP.
The company also said it will adjust prices and the surcharge as the market allows.
CNN reported that Waffle House serves 272 million eggs a year, the most ordered food at the chain. Since 1955, the company said it has sold 4,657,722,237 eggs.
There are more than 2,000 Waffle Houses across 25 states, WSB reported.
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