Restaurants, diners scrambling to deal with eye-popping egg prices

Boston Globe

19-02-2025

The 24-hour eatery, which prides itself on its old-school atmosphere and menu, goes through roughly 400 dozen eggs every weekend. Like most classic breakfast places, eggs — poached, fried, and everything in between — are a central part of its business.
When prices began to tick up toward the end of last year, Sidell hoped they'd come down by January. Then he was assured the bird flu outbreaks would abate by February and supply would return to normal. Now he's not sure how much longer it will last, or how much longer he can take it.
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'Our next big weekend is St Patrick's Day,' Sidell said. 'So we're hoping this is resolved by then.'
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The nationwide wholesale
price for loose eggs rose to $7.74 per dozen, up about 68 percent already this year, according to
the latest data from the
Department of Agriculture. The price for loose eggs designated 'California-compliant,'
Related
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So far, the South Street Diner has managed to avoid the same markups as other restaurants such as Waffle House,
to his customers.
But if the price hikes reach the point 'when I can't bring home a paycheck and make sure my wife is happy,' he said — price increases would have to be on the table, he said.
'We want to make sure that everybody has a reasonable price, but we want to make sure that we can make a living,' Sidell said.
It's not just sky-high prices that are squeezing breakfast eateries. As bird flu decimates flocks in California,
Pennsylvania, and the Midwest, wholesalers are reporting chronic supply shortages, forcing diners to stretch their supplies.
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Rob Doucette, owner of Liberty Diner on the Roxbury-South Boston line, said his kitchen goes
through a case of 30 dozen eggs about every other day. But earlier this month, his regular supplier called and said the usual order of eggs wasn't available. They assured him they would let him know when the order was ready, but that call still hasn't come.
Luckily, Doucette said he managed to stop by on the supplier's restocking day. Posted in the back of the warehouse, he said, was a sign limiting purchases to five cases of 15 dozen eggs. The cases of 30 dozen, which he normally buys, were nowhere to be seen.
'I'm going to stop by again today to see if I can purchase any more,' Doucette said
last week. 'But I'm not expecting it.'
Wholesalers said they are rationing cases to make sure all of their accounts are able to receive at least part of their regular
order, with the hope of backfilling it later.
But that poses a challenge for smaller wholesalers like Shirazi Distributing, based in Newmarket Square, which turns over its warehouse inventory two to three times a week.
'We're not sitting on product, which means anything we bring in is going to be sold within the next couple of days,' said Josh Shirazi. 'So if we're getting a delivery of eggs twice a week, and we order 10 pallets and only two or three come in, that means we're running out of eggs.'
Shirazi said the fluctuations of supply and demand are 'day to day,' making it impossible
to plan ahead.
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'We're not bracing for it to get worse — we are braced,' he said. 'We're at the mercy of what the farms will send us."
Kay Masterson, owner of Johnny's Luncheonette in Newton, orders anywhere between 15 and 20 cases of eggs a week. The diner tries to stay ahead of potential price shocks with small, incremental increases throughout the year, she said. For now, that means she hasn't had to raise prices on her 'Jordan Marsh' skillets and other egg-centric dishes.
'You want to keep your doors open for as many people as possible,' Masterson said. 'So we are price-sensitive. We try and do our best. And it's a tricky balance.'
Masterson said it would be a painful decision to hike prices dramatically, especially since many of its customers are students and seniors who don't have a lot of money to spare.
'I know some people who are in almost every day, and I know what an integral part we are in their lives,' she said. 'I never want to get to a point where they couldn't come in and enjoy their time with us.'
Sidell said he was optimistic South Street would be able to weather the price increase without passing the costs along, adding that if the pandemic taught him anything, it was that 'there's always a new curve in the restaurant business.'
Doucette said Liberty has increased the price of its breakfast items.
His customers, he said, need only go to the grocery store to know why.
'Seeing how the market has changed and the price has risen so drastically, so quickly, people kind of understand,' he said. 'We can't help it, but if we want to continue to sell eggs and get eggs, we have to change our price accordingly.'
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But with the end of high prices nowhere in sight — according to the USDA, there is 'little chance for improvement in the near-term' — Doucette said he might have to take more serious measures.
'I don't know what the turnaround is for buying chickens and having them reproduce,' he said. 'That would be somewhere down the road. Hopefully it doesn't get to that point.'
Waitress Leighann Weston with customers at the South Street Diner in Boston. South Street Diner serves roughly 400 dozen eggs every weekend.
David L. Ryan/Globe Staff
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