High price of eggs impacts popular Des Moines brunch spots
DES MOINES, Iowa — The increasing price of eggs is a concern for consumers in grocery stores, but it's also impacting local restaurants.
The Early Bird is a popular restaurant serving brunch in the Des Moines Metro, with locations in West Des Moines, Ankeny, and Des Moines' East Village. The owner, Kendal Owen, says the high price of eggs has a 'tremendous impact' on his business.
According to the USDA Egg Markets Overview released on Friday, the average cost of a dozen eggs in the Midwest has increased to $7.81.
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Owen says restaurants typically pay more because broadline distributors deliver eggs around three times a week to each of his locations, so it's more expensive than just buying from a grocery store when the price of delivery is accounted for.
Between its three metro locations, The Early Bird uses between 1,200 and 1,500 eggs in a single day. Their menu has roughly 65 options and a majority include eggs. Owen says the cost of eggs for him has doubled within the last six months.
However, just because the cost has increased for him, doesn't mean the menu at The Early Bird will reflect that.
'It's not our goal to do that. We really want to put our best foot forward to our guest and make sure that our menu prices stay consistent and relevant with the time,' said Owen.
While he doesn't plan to increase menu prices anytime soon, Owen says it may be an option in the future.
According to Owen, if the price of eggs continues to increase, he may have to revisit menu prices in roughly six months. Or, if the cost of other foods the restaurant purchases in large amounts also starts to increase, then menu prices will be reassessed.
However, that is not a possibility the popular brunch restaurant is considering right now, and there are many options on the menu that don't contain eggs.
High price of eggs impacts popular Des Moines brunch spots
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Vox
04-06-2025
- Vox
A federal court's novel proposal to rein in Trump's power grab
is a senior correspondent at Vox, where he focuses on the Supreme Court, the Constitution, and the decline of liberal democracy in the United States. He received a JD from Duke University and is the author of two books on the Supreme Court. Federal civil servants are supposed to enjoy robust protections against being fired or demoted for political reasons. But President Donald Trump has effectively stripped them of these protections by neutralizing the federal agencies that implement these safeguards. An agency known as the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) hears civil servants' claims that a 'government employer discriminated against them, retaliated against them for whistleblowing, violated protections for veterans, or otherwise subjected them to an unlawful adverse employment action or prohibited personnel practice,' as a federal appeals court explained in an opinion on Tuesday. But the three-member board currently lacks the quorum it needs to operate because Trump fired two of the members. SCOTUS, Explained Get the latest developments on the US Supreme Court from senior correspondent Ian Millhiser. Email (required) Sign Up By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Trump also fired Hampton Dellinger, who until recently served as the special counsel of the United States, a role that investigates alleged violations of federal civil service protections and brings related cases to the MSPB. Trump recently nominated Paul Ingrassia, a far-right podcaster and recent law school graduate to replace Dellinger. The upshot of these firings is that no one in the government is able to enforce laws and regulations protecting civil servants. 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And, even after that inquiry is complete, the Trump administration is likely to appeal the Fourth Circuit's decision to the Supreme Court if it wants to keep civil service protections on ice. If the justices agree with the circuit court, however, that will close a legal loophole that has left federal civil servants unprotected by laws that are still very much on the books. And it will cure a problem that the Supreme Court bears much of the blame for creating. The 'unitary executive,' or why the Supreme Court is to blame for the loss of civil service protections Federal law provides that Dellinger could 'be removed by the President only for inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office,' and members of the MSPB enjoy similar protections against being fired. Trump's decision to fire these officials was illegal under these laws. 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Yahoo
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- Yahoo
Ex-Maryland officers plead guilty after staging car thefts to get insurance payouts
PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY, Md. () — Two former Maryland officers recently pleaded guilty to federal charges relating to a years-long insurance fraud scheme. The U.S. Attorney's Office (USAO) said former Prince George's County Police Department (PGPD) officer 36-year-old Michael Anthony Owen, Jr. and former Anne Arundel County Police Department (AACPD) officer 31-year-old Jaron Earl Taylor admitted to being involved in a conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Between August 2018 and February 2020, Owen and Taylor worked with fellow police officers, Candace Tyler, Conrad D'Haiti and Davion Percy, among others, the USAO detailed. Man seen tearing down Dupont Circle Pride decorations; DC police investigating Members would report losses to auto insurers to obtain money or avoid paying off vehicles that were less than the amount owed to them, using their status as police officers to bolster each other's claims by writing fake police reports. Then, they submitted the police reports to insurers to validate the claim. In August 2018, the USAO said Owen and Taylor staged the theft of Taylor's Chevrolet Tahoe. After Taylor filed a fraudulent police report, reporting it as stolen, the two stripped the vehicle and drove it deep into the woods of a Maryland State Highway property near Largo. Once he filed a claim, the U.S. Automobile Association (USAA) paid Taylor more than $38,000 for the loss. Then, in January 2020, Owen reportedly helped D'Haiti avoid paying his loan balance on a Jaguar XKR. Working with him and Percy, Owen schemed to fake the car's theft. On Jan. 4 of that year, D'Haiti parked his car behind the Marlow Heights Shopping Center, where Percy worked as police chief. He paid Percy $350 to arrange for someone to tow the vehicle and 'extensively vandalize it for the purpose of creating a total insurance loss,' the USAO detailed. Tyler then filed a fake police report and D'Haiti filed a claim with Liberty Mutual Insurance. D'Haiti was paid $17,585 on the false claim. Trio accused of stealing over $30K in candles from Fairfax County retailers Also that month, Owen and Taylor helped a co-conspirator dispose of an Infiniti sedan so that they didn't have to make further payments on the vehicle while on duty overseas. The conspirator gave Taylor $1,000 to stage the theft. Taylor then forwarded the money to Owen, who filed another fake police report with PGPD, claiming the vehicle was stolen. In reality, the car had been moved to the top floor of an apartment complex's parking garage, replacing the car's license plates with ones from another vehicle. The stolen car claim the conspirators filed with GEICO was denied, however, on the grounds of fraud. Owen and Taylor pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, for which Owen faces up to 20 years in prison and Taylor faces up to three years. Their sentences are both scheduled for Sept. 23. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Associated Press
28-05-2025
- Associated Press
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Meatly reduces bioreactor costs by 95% and medium costs to 1.5p/l at scale DOUGLAS, ISLE OF MAN / ACCESS Newswire / May 28, 2025 / Agronomics (LSE:ANIC), a leading listed company in the field of clean food, is delighted to announce that its portfolio company, Good Dog Food Limited (t/a 'Meatly') has developed an in-house bioreactor to accelerate the scalable production of its cultivated petfood. Meatly says the new bioreactor has the biocompatibility, longevity, scalability and overall performance to meet the requirements for cell culture for an industrial cultivated meat facility comprising multiple 20,000 litre scale bioreactors, which Meatly intends to develop as part of its next funding stage. The newly designed 320 litre equipment costs just £12,500 compared to traditional biopharma reactors, which can cost £250,000, representing a 95% cost reduction. 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In a food industry increasingly focused on resilience and environmental responsibility, Meatly Chicken offers partners the best of both worlds, reducing reliance on destructive farming methods while delivering consistent quality at an affordable price. We are proud to support Owen and Helder as they continue to lead the way in this transformative sector.' The full announcement is set out below without any material changes: 28 May 2025: London, UK: Leading cultivated meat company Meatly has today announced a series of landmark achievements in its scientific production process, marking a watershed moment for cultivated meat. This marks another giant step for Meatly in scaling cultivated meat and reaching price parity with traditionally reared chicken. As part of this mission to slash production costs, Meatly has announced it has concluded the commissioning phase and the first cell growth run in its pilot scale 320 L novel, low-cost bioreactor. This patented bioreactor, designed in-house by Meatly's R&D team, will replace the reliance on and use of expensive biopharma bioreactors, which has been a significant barrier for many cultivated meat companies. The new bioreactor has the biocompatibility, longevity, scalability and overall performance to meet the requirements for cell culture for an industrial cultivated meat facility comprising multiple 20,000L scale bioreactors, which Meatly intends to develop as part of its next funding stage. The newly designed 320 L equipment costs just £12.5K compared to traditional biopharma reactors, which can cost £250k, representing a 95% cost reduction. Additionally, Meatly is today announcing it has further slashed the costs of its protein-free medium to an industry-leading £0.22/L. Meatly is now in a position where, at an industrial scale, the company's medium costs will be priced out at around £0.015/L. This medium has also proven that it is capable of supporting cell growth for over 175 doublings, a substantial improvement on historical medium doubling performance. This will mean that Meatly Chicken, once scaled, will be priced competitively with average EU chicken breast prices. This breakthrough underlines Meatly's leadership in the industry's technical development as well as its pace to market. Following on from its regulatory approval back in July of 2024, Meatly and brand partner The Pack launched and sold 'Chick Bites' the world's first cultivated pet food, in Pets at Home in London in February. To date, Meatly has raised £7m, significantly less capital than other cultivated meat companies, proving there is a fast and cost-effective way to scale cultivated meat. Meatly is now in the midst of its Series A funding round, which seeks to raise finance a brand new, state-of-the-art industrial facility to scale production of its chicken. Commenting on the news, Helder Cruz, Chief Scientific Officer at Meatly, said: 'At Meatly, we have worked tirelessly with the team to bring to reality both our new low-cost bioreactor, as well as a record cheap medium to be used within it. Many have cast doubt that the industry would ever reach this point - but we're pleased to prove these critics wrong. We are showing the world that we can produce meat in a kinder, better way, and we can make it at a price which makes it easy for brands to incorporate Meatly Chicken as an affordable ingredient in their existing product range. By reaching price parity, it then becomes a simple and easy choice for consumers to buy better meat for their pets. ' ENDS Notes to Editors About Meatly Meatly (previously known as Good Dog Food) was founded in 2022 by CEO Owen Ensor and CSO Dr Helder Cruz with backing from investor Agronomics. The company produces ethical and sustainable cultivated meat products without compromising on essential nutritional benefits. Their current focus is on the pet food market. For further information please contact: About Reach announcements This is a Reach announcement. Reach is an investor communication service aimed at assisting listed and unlisted (including AIM quoted) companies to distribute media only / non-regulatory news releases into the public domain. Information required to be notified under the AIM Rules for Companies, Market Abuse Regulation or other regulation would be disseminated as an RNS regulatory announcement and not on Reach. This information is provided by Reach, the non-regulatory press release distribution service of RNS, part of the London Stock Exchange. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact [email protected] or visit SOURCE: Agronomics Limited press release
