Waffle House has introduced a temporary surcharge of 50 cents per egg at its over 2,000 locations in response to ongoing egg shortages caused by avian influenza outbreaks, specifically the H5N1 strain.

The restaurant chain emphasized that this surcharge is a targeted measure rather than a general price hike across the menu, reflecting the difficult decisions faced by consumers and restaurants amid rising costs.

“The continuing egg shortage caused by HPAI (bird flu) has caused a dramatic increase in egg prices,” Waffle House said in a statement on Monday. “Customers and restaurants are being forced to make difficult decisions.”

“While we hope these price fluctuations will be short-lived, we cannot predict how long this shortage will last,” the company continued.

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Waffle House plans to monitor egg prices closely and adjust the surcharge as market conditions evolve.

The price of a dozen eggs has more than doubled since the summer of 2023, reaching nearly $4.15 in December 2024, with predictions from the USDA suggesting a further increase of up to 20% this year. This would mean that a dozen eggs would cost more than $5, marking the highest-ever price per carton.

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The bird flu crisis, which was first detected in livestock and poultry in 2022, has already resulted in the culling of over 145 million birds, significantly impacting the egg supply. As a result, multiple major grocery chains have begun limiting egg purchases.

Additionally, new cage-free egg laws in several states are contributing to supply chain strains and further price increases.

The steady uptick in egg prices has already proven to be a politically fraught subject for the Trump administration, with the rising cost of groceries—specifically eggs— becoming a core part of Donald Trump’s reelection campaign. After years of denying a correlation between the Biden administration’s economic policies and inflation-induced price hikes, media outlets were quick to seize on egg prices as an attack against Trump.

“There is a lot of reporting out there that is putting the onus on this White House for the increased cost of eggs,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said during her first press briefing last week. “As far as the egg shortage, what’s also contributing to that is that the Biden admin and Department of Agriculture directed the mass killing of 100 million chickens.”

Similarly, in an interview with CBS News’ Margaret Brennan last month, Vice President JD Vance said that the new administration has made great strides towards restoring economic stability, but these changes will take time to bring down costs.

“There have been a number of executive orders that have caused, already, jobs to start coming back into our country, which is a core part of lowering prices,” Vance said. “Prices are going to come down, but it’s going to take a little bit of time, right? The president has been president for all of five days.”

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Connor Walcott is the lead writer for Valuetainment.com. Follow Connor on X and look for him on VT’s “The Unusual Suspects.”

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