Christian A. Ray, Intern
thefranklinpressnews@gmail.com
An ongoing outbreak of Avian flu has caused a shortage in egg production, which is the leading cause for the increased cost of eggs. Some national restaurants have announced an egg surcharge on menu items. Locally, restaurants and the county school system are finding ways to deal with the egg shortages and price increases, with some saying it may soon impact their menu prices as well.
Renee Vargas of Renee’s Cake Shoppe on Main Street says eggs are harder to come by now. She said a 60-count case of eggs used to be around $9.95, but nowadays they will put you back at least $29.95. Vargas says she is currently paying $145 for a case of 15 dozen white eggs, and it is almost impossible to receive brown eggs through her distributor, US Foods.
She buys organic eggs from three local suppliers and uses those exclusively in cakes with the store-bought eggs going in cookies and other menu items.
Vargas has not raised prices since her grand opening in June 2023; however, she expects she will be forced to increase prices soon. The bakery uses about 25 dozen eggs a week with that number doubling in the summertime. Vargas said she does not intend to limit or remove any items from her menu as a result of egg prices.
“Eggs are a part of doing business, we have to have them to bake everything in our store,” she said.
While egg prices are skyrocketing, Vargas said eggs are not the only product with a higher price tag. “Everything has gone up in the last couple of months. Chocolate and butter prices are rising, at least double what it was last year. So, when people ask for a cake quote, not only do I have to consider my time and employees’ time making the cake, I have to consider the ingredient costs. Flour, sugar, salt, baking powder are the only items that have continued to remain at a steady low price,” she said.
Bethany McCall of Bent Willow Baking Co. is also keeping her business afloat, despite the challenges of the national egg shortage. “We’ve been able to find eggs, but the price is a huge thing. We did get them from a larger supplier [US Foods], but started getting them from Walmart, because they’re cheaper there. But even at Walmart, they’re like twice the price.”
McCall hasn’t had to limit any menu items yet. “We’ve still been able to find enough that there hasn’t been a week yet at this point where we’re like, ‘We’re going to have to cut back on this or not make this thing.’ I think there may have been one or two weeks where I had to go to multiple stores to find enough but was able to get enough.”
McCall said she was approached by a distributor that suggested using liquid eggs. “But [liquid egg] is not quite the same for us.”
The only real substitute for eggs in baking is by way of vegan-oriented baked goods, which do not require eggs. “There’s a couple of our items that we could potentially make vegan. I was a vegan for years, so I know how to do that,” McCall said. “If it got to that point where it was desperation, I probably would start with taking off items that were the heaviest on the eggs first.”
With the current prices and availability of eggs, McCall has been considering raising prices of menu items. “I was just discussing it with my pastry chef yesterday about how a couple of items that are super egg heavy, we’re going to have to raise the price, because at this point I probably am losing money.”
Blake Belbac, head chef at Caffe REL, said, “Oh yeah! Eggs are hard to get right now!” He continued, “We have had to switch over entirely to liquid egg for the time being.” He orders liquid eggs from US Foods.
School breakfast and lunch menus also require an ample amount of egg, according to David Lightner to Macon County Schools nutrition director. “We mainly use whole liquid eggs that come in cartons that we purchase from US Foods. We received a mid-year price increase this school year from $54.24 per case to $61.26 per case.”
Lightner said the school system uses about six cases per week and the price increase amounted to about three cents per serving.
“While this price increase is not too significant, increases are likely to hit us harder next school year. Under our current bid, our manufacturers and distributors only have specified opportunities to alter pricing. They can alter pricing during the mid-year price increase, or they can increase prices through the approval of a Force Majeure request. At this point we have not received a Force Majeure request on eggs.” (Force Majeure means not fulfilling the terms of a contract.)
During the current school year, all Macon County Schools provide free breakfast and lunches for students.