Is your favorite restaurant charging you extra for eggs? What to know about egg surcharges
Popular breakfast chain Waffle House in early February implemented a temporary 50-cent per egg surcharge at its roughly 2,100 locations across the U.S. In a statement obtained by USA TODAY last month, the chain cited the "continuing egg shortage caused by HPAI (Bird Flu)" that has caused a "dramatic increase in egg prices."
In late February, Denny's also announced it was implementing a temporary surcharge to every meal that includes eggs. The company declined to release specific details on which of its over 1,300 locations would be affected, saying the pricing decision is "market-by-market, and restaurant-by-restaurant" due to the regional impacts of the egg shortage.
"This situation is continuing to evolve, and we are working closely with our procurement team and our franchisees to make decisions that are right for the business while maintaining value for our guests," Denny's said in a statement at the time.
McDonald's and Cracker Barrel, on the other hand, announced they would implement surcharges, with Cracker Barrel even offering customers "double pegs" on all egg dishes for a few days following the announcement. McDonald's also offered Egg McMuffins for just $1 in late February after their announcement.
'At Cracker Barrel, country hospitality is as important to us as a hearty breakfast – and that means not charging extra for eggs,' the restaurant and gift store chain said in a statement in early February.
USA TODAY reached out to multiple restaurant chains to ask whether they had plans to implement an egg surcharge. Here's what they said.
Among the companies that responded to USA TODAY's request for comment were Bojangles, First Watch, Wendy's, Starbucks, and CKE Restaurants Holdings, which owns and operates both Hardee's and Carl's Jr. All of them said they had no plans to implement egg surcharges.
Wendy's told USA TODAY it has "no plans to raise prices on eggs" and CKE also said it had no plans to implement a surcharge at Hardee's or Carl's Jr.
"We have not taken any pricing action directly related to eggs," First Watch said in an emailed statement to USA TODAY. "We continue to monitor the environment while keeping our customer top-of-mind." Bojangles also said it "does not have any plans for an egg surcharge at this time."
Starbucks told USA TODAY it will not be increasing menu prices this fiscal year as part of its "effort to ensure that every Starbucks visit is worth it for our customers."
Other companies, such as Subway, Taco Bell, IHOP, Burger King and Chick-fil-A, among others, either did not respond to USA TODAY's request for comment or declined to comment.
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The United States Department of Agriculture said in a report released last Friday the wholesale price of eggs had dropped by $2.70 to $4.15 per dozen.
The drop in price is thanks to the absence of major HPAI, or bird flu, outbreaks so far in March, according to the agency, and also the lowered demand for eggs in resistance to prices.
However, the USDA said the wholesale price decreases "have yet to be reflected at store shelves," and until they are, demand is expected to remain "dampened."
"Grocers have made progress in recent days in maintaining a more consistent stock of shell eggs but some of this is due to many offering little in the way of price incentives which helped to reduce or eliminate altogether much of the panic and opportunity buying seen in some markets in February," the agency said in the report.
Gabe Hauari is a national trending news reporter at USA TODAY. You can follow him on X @GabeHauari or email him at Gdhauari@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Egg shortage: See which restaurants have implemented egg surcharges
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