What can you do with an extra 50 cents in your pocket?
Waffle House is dropping its 50-cent surcharge on every egg ordered it enacted earlier this year as egg prices soared and in some places became scarce. This despite the cost of eggs still remaining elevated across the country.
The Norcross-based breakfast giant announced the news on its social media pages Tuesday morning, calling it “egg-cellent news.” A spokesperson for the company could not be reached immediately for comment.
Waffle House introduced the surcharge in February as a way to adjust to rising egg prices. At that time, the cost of eggs nearly doubled since the start of 2024 because of bird flu spreading through the U.S. chicken population and reducing egg count.
Other restaurants and cottage bakers in Atlanta also felt the impact of rising prices. Many of them absorbed the costs and did not adjust their prices, choosing instead to introduce more eggless or vegan products, or to pay more attention to spending in other categories.
Since Waffle House added the extra 50-cent fee, however, the cost of eggs hasn’t come down significantly.
After spiking to $6.23 per dozen eggs in March, prices came down to $5.12 in April and $4.55 in May, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This is still nearly 70% higher than the price in May 2024, which was $2.70.
The chain, which has more than 2,000 locations across the country, says it sells more than 250 million eggs per year and more than a dozen family-operated farms supply its restaurants with eggs.
Bird flu is still spreading in wild birds and poultry across the country. Between 2022 and now, more than 170 million chickens, turkeys and other birds have been wiped out, according to the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The CDC also has said the risk to humans from the bird flu, known as H5N1, is low, and as of June 27, there is no known person-to-person spread at this time.
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