The breakfast chain Waffle House is famous for serving customers a cheap and hearty breakfast at any time of day. In fact, the 24-hour eatery is so reliable and affordable that emergency officials use it as an informal gauge for judging severe weather: if the area Waffle House is closed, then the natural disaster must be extremely severe. But one thing the famously dependable chain couldn’t predict is soaring egg prices, which have driven it to add a 50-cent surcharge per egg to each bill. Signs and stickers on the menu alert Waffle House diners that the surcharge is temporary and caused by “the nationwide rise in cost of eggs.”
Egg prices are rising because an aggressive strain of avian flu is hurting supply. The average price for a dozen large, grade-A eggs — which are the ones Waffle House uses — was $4.15 in December, up from $3.65 in November. Experts predict prices will increase by another 20 percent this year. “Not to be the bearer of bad news, but we’re in this for a while,” said Emily Metz, president and CEO of the American Egg Board. “Until we have time without (avian flu) detection, unfortunately this very, very tight egg supply is going to continue.”
Eggs are by far Waffle House’s most-ordered item. The chain sells 272 million eggs per year, surpassing hash browns (153 million) and even its namesake: waffles (124 million). That leaves Waffle House especially vulnerable to the spike in egg prices. Adding a surcharge could be a more economical choice for the company than raising its overall prices, which would require new menus that are costly to print. And there is no end in sight to the price surge as the approaching Easter holiday brings increased demand for eggs. As one Waffle House diner from Atlanta put it: “It definitely makes you reconsider your choices in terms of eating out.”
Questions:
- Why do you think Waffle House chose to add a temporary surcharge to eggs instead of raising the price permanently?
- What impact do rising egg prices have on businesses and families?
Sources: Joseph Pisani, “Dining Out Now Comes With a 50 Cent ‘Egg Surcharge,’” The Wall Street Journal, February 5, 2024. Jordan Valinsky, “Waffle House Is Placing A Surcharge On Every Egg It Sells,” CNN, February 4, 2025.