Denny’s eggs are cracking under nationwide shortages.
The diner-style restaurant chain will add surcharges to all orders that include eggs, according to a statement provided to TODAY.com.
“Denny’s remains committed to providing our guests with delicious meals they love at the value they expect,” the statement reads. “We do our best to plan ahead with our vendors on items like eggs to minimize the impact market volatility has on our costs and menu pricing.”
In its statement, the chain cited nationwide egg shortages and rising costs as reasons for price adjustments, noting that some locations will temporarily add a surcharge to every meal containing eggs. The specific pricing changes will depend on regional impacts.
“We understand our guests’ desire for value, and we will continue to look for ways to provide options on our menu, including our $2 $4 $6 $8 value menu, while navigating these rapidly changing market dynamics responsibly,” the chain added.
Denny’s declined to provide lists of individual markets and restaurants that will be affected as it adjusts to the situation.
Currently, Denny’s lists one cooked-to-order egg as starting at $2.99 on its website. It operates more than 1,500 restaurants.
Denny’s upcoming surcharges come after fellow breakfast chain Waffle House announced earlier this month that a 50-cent surcharge will be added to every egg that is ordered. Waffle House began its pricing hike on Feb. 3, implementing it at all of its nearly 2,000 locations across 25 states.
In response, Cracker Barrel announced in a statement Feb. 6 that the restaurant chain will not add an extra cost to eggs.
“A surcharge on eggs? Well, there’s nothing hospitable about that,” a spokesperson for the company said in an email to TODAY.com. “At Cracker Barrel, country hospitality is as important to us as a hearty breakfast — and that means not charging extra for eggs.”
Why are egg prices rising right now?
Egg prices have been on the rise around the country for months following a recent outbreak of avian influenza, or bird flu, leading to the depopulation of over 13 million eggs just in the month of December, according to the USDA Egg Markets Overview. Millions more have been lost so far this year.
Last month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the average price for a dozen Grade A large eggs was $4.95.
Due to the rising costs, some customers have started filling their carts with eggs at grocery stores, like Trader Joe’s and Costco. Some shoppers have shared on social media that both grocers have since started to limit the amount of eggs per customer.
“Due to ongoing issues with the supply of eggs, we are currently limiting egg purchases to one dozen per customer, per day, in all Trader Joe’s stores across the country,” a Trader Joe’s spokesperson said in a statement to NBC News earlier this month. “We hope these limits will help to ensure that as many of our customers who need eggs are able to purchase them when they visit Trader Joe’s.”
