BOISE, Idaho — This article originally appeared in the Idaho Press.
Selling breakfast or brunch dishes used to yield decent profits for restaurants.
That’s because many breakfast and brunch dishes feature eggs, a food whose low prices allowed for healthy profit margins — until recently.
The price of eggs has risen steeply over the past year, in part due to aggressive measures to reduce the spread of bird flu. Around 40 million laying hens in the U.S. have died from the outbreak, or been killed to prevent its spread, according to reporting from PBS. That’s about 13% of the laying hens in the country.
Restaurants in the Treasure Valley have felt the pain, though many said they have already made adjustments to counter inflation.
Goldy’s Breakfast Bistro in Boise goes through 3,000 eggs per week, said Ross Minnich, the restaurant’s manager. Two weeks ago, the restaurant was paying $90 per case of 180 eggs. That price used to be in the $30 range, he said.
Periodically during the pandemic, the restaurant has had to raise menu prices, Minnich said. With the cost of eggs up recently, they made small $1-$2 increases on egg dishes specifically, he said. He hopes customers will be understanding.
“The hardest part is it hurts your customer base,” Minnich said. “Relaying that message to them and saying, ‘we’re not doing this because we want to; (we’re doing it) because we have to.”
There are signs prices may be easing, as the price for a case was down to the $50 range this week, he said.
Aspen Grimm, bar manager for Tupelo Honey in Boise, said “eggs are one of the more pricey breakfast items we have been serving.” However, the company, which has locations across the country, increased its prices about $1-$2 on menu items across the board about a month ago, including egg dishes, as part of its recent shift to becoming a Tier 3 location. That distinction is based on factors such as the popularity of the location, how long it has been in business, and more.
Grimm said the restaurant has been open for three years at its Boise location. And when it comes to food prices, “there’s definitely people up above (in corporate) that are keeping an eye on all of that and making adjustments accordingly.”
Becky Merritt, owner of Merritt’s Family Restaurant in Boise, has not had to adjust the price of dishes due to recent egg prices, in part because she had already adjusted prices somewhat recently, she said. But she called the price of eggs “ridiculous.” Like Minnich, she has been paying “nearly $90 for a case of eggs,” in recent weeks. But she is also hopeful prices may have peaked.
“You hate to keep raising prices because eventually, they will drop back down again … and we have always prided ourselves on keeping our prices low,” Merritt said.
In Nampa, Ryan LeBaron, owner of LeBaron’s Honker Cafe, said he has been able to avoid raising prices by finding other ways to cut costs over the past year. He noticed that people often would not finish toast that came with meals, and started having staff ask customers if they wanted one or two pieces of toast to reduce food waste, he said. He also started buying some baking ingredients in bulk, and brewing coffee as needed as opposed to having many carafes available on demand that might end up being thrown out if unused at the end of the day, he said.
“I’m just trying to keep those prices down ... for people to come in and enjoy the time out, not feel like they have to break the bank to come out for a great breakfast,” LeBaron said.
This article originally appeared in the Idaho Press, read more on IdahoPress.com.
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