Denny’s egg surcharge has breakfast chain following Waffle House

Denny’s is the latest breakfast chain to charge extra for orders containing eggs, an ever-costlier commodity in short supply due to the killing of millions of egg-laying hens as a result of bird flu.

The restaurant said the additional and temporary fee will vary by region and location. The move by the Spartanburg, South Carolina-based brand comes weeks after fellow breakfast chain Waffle House added an egg surcharge. The 70-year-old Denny’s brand involves 1,499 restaurants, most of them in the U.S. and run by franchisees, according to its website. 

The company said it attempts to plan ahead “to minimize the impact market volatility has on our costs and menu pricing,” but still has to charge more given the nationwide egg shortage and increased cost of eggs, the company said in a statement.

In adding its 50-cent per egg surcharge earlier this month, Waffle House expressed hope that the spikes in egg prices would be short-lived, but added “we cannot predict how long this shortage will last.”

According to a forecast by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the price of eggs will rise 20% this year.  

Bird flu, also known as highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), was confirmed in a commercial flock in the U.S. three years ago. The outbreak has worsened in recent months, with nearly 19 million birds in commercial and backyard flocks slaughtered in the last 30 days, according to the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. 

The average price of a dozen large, grade-A eggs came to $4.95 in January, up from $4.15 in December, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.  

International House of Pancakes, or IHOP,  earlier this month signaled that the high cost of eggs has not affected menu prices at its 1,811 restaurants around the U.S. and in other countries. The restaurant chain did not immediately respond to a request for comment.