Waffle House Just Added an Egg Surcharge to Its Menu

Your breakfast at Waffle House is about to get a little more expensive. 

On Monday, the restaurant, which has more than 2,000 locations across the United States, announced that it's adding a surcharge for eggs due to Waffle House's increasing overhead costs on its egg supply caused by avian influenza.

“The continuing egg shortage caused by HPAI (Bird Flu) has caused a dramatic increase in egg prices,” Waffle House said in a press release shared with various publications. “Consumers and restaurants are being forced to make difficult decisions. Effective February 3, Waffle House has implemented a temporary .50 per gg surcharge to all menus.” 

The restaurant noted that the price increase is a “temporary targeted surcharge tied to the unprecedented rise in egg prices. 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. While we hope these price fluctuations will be short-lived, we cannot predict how long this shortage will last. We are continuously monitoring egg prices and will adjust or remove the surcharge as market conditions allow.”

According to the Waffle House website, it serves an astonishing 272 million eggs per year, not counting the eggs used to make its pancakes, waffles, and other batters, showcasing the strain that increased pricing can have on the company's bottom line. 

As Food & Wine has regularly reported over the last few months, egg prices in the U.S. are skyrocketing due to bird flu, severe weather, and supply chain issues. In late January, we noted the most recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which showed that the cost of a dozen large Grade A eggs reached $4.15 in December — a 37% rise over the past year. 

The issue is also compounded by the Trump administration's efforts to make it harder for consumers to find and understand the latest data. 

On January 3, we reported on the USDA's monthly livestock outlook, which showed that table-egg-laying flocks have been massively impacted by the spread of the flu. “There were 3.97 million table-egg layers depopulated in November alone, and in the first week of December, the loss of an additional 2.5 million birds in two Merced, California flocks was confirmed,” the report stated. However, that webpage has since been deleted. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's website still states that 149,964,521 birds have been affected by the bird flu, up from 128,907,392 on January 3. Keep track of the latest bird flu statistics at cdc.gov/bird-flu.