Waffle House adds surcharge to all eggs sold amid soaring prices due to bird flu
Not even Waffle House can escape the rising cost of eggs, as the popular 24-hour breakfast chain is now placing a 50 cent surcharge on every egg sold.
Scripps News
WASHINGTON ― Waffle House has a new fan in the White House.
President Donald Trump sought credit for the popular restaurant chain dropping a 50-cent surcharge per every egg, claiming victory on reducing the cost of eggs as he singled out Waffle’s House’s move.
“We brought the price of Eggs back to what they were supposed to be,” Trump said in a July 3 post on Truth Social that attached Waffle House’s announcement. “When I took over on January 20th, the Fake News was screaming that, ‘Egg prices have gone through the roof, quadrupled,’ they said. Now they’re plentiful, and inexpensive.”
“‘Thank you President Trump!'” Trump added.
Egg prices still much higher than one year ago
The average cost of eggs in May was still 41.5% greater than one year ago, according to the Labor Department’s latest Consumer Price Index report. But prices are down from 12.7% since March, when egg prices reached a high of roughly $6.22 per dozen on average.
A dozen eggs in May cost $4.55 on average, compared to $2.70 in May 2024, according to Labor Department statistics.
The spike over the past year was driven primarily by the ongoing avian influenza, or bird flu, which killed off egg-laying poultry and left fewer chickens behind to maintain the supply, and stubborn inflation.
Waffle House announced plans to drop the egg surcharge in a July 2 social media post. “Egg-cellent news…as of June 2, the egg surcharge is officially off the menu. Thanks for understanding!”
In February, Trump’s agriculture secretary, Brooke Rollins, announced a five-pronged strategy to combat the bird flu and bring down egg prices including investing $500 million for biosecurity measures to protect farms.
Contributing: Mary Walrath-Holdridge of USA TODAY
Reach Joey Garrison on X @joeygarrison.
