Waffle House Levies Egg Tax Amid Soaring Prices

Waffle House just announced a surcharge on every egg it cooks. The restaurant says it has been forced to make a difficult decision due to the continuing egg shortage.

CNN shares that the price of a dozen eggs in December 2024 was $4.15. That's nearing COVID pandemic prices, which were followed by a steep decline in 2023. A graph on the website shows the price of eggs hovering between $1.50 and $2.25 for most of the last 15 years.

This is all the result of the bird flu.

• The USDA says the cost of a dozen eggs will continue to rise in 2025.
• About 17 million chickens were killed due to the bird flu virus in 2024.
• Waffle House serves 272 million eggs a year between its 2,100 locations.

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As a result of this, Waffle House is adding 50 cents per egg to the menu price. This egg tax should be temporary, but it's not clear how long it will hold, as experts say there is not an end in sight.

This current strain of bird flu first showed up in 2022, and since then more than 140 million chickens have been slaughtered. Experts tell PBS that the virus is not a major risk to humans yet, although people should avoid eating raw eggs.

Once the virus is present in a flock, the entire flock needs to be killed, and it could take 26 weeks for a hen to grow big enough to begin laying eggs. These experts also say prices could jump another 20 percent this year.