MADISON, Wis. — The price of eggs is on the rise throughout the U.S., as bird flu is forcing farmers to slaughter millions of chickens a month.
While the increasing egg prices are being felt at grocery stores, some Madison-based eateries have yet to feel the pinch.
“It is always a concern, increasing prices, because that is a cost you don’t want to have to pass on, but sometimes it is inevitable,” said Debbie Buchanan, owner of Reverie, a popular breakfast location on Madison’s East Side.
Buchanan said she is unsure exactly why the prices have not increased for her restaurant, but feels confident the cost of breakfast items including eggs will remain the same.
“I think maybe because I buy them in bulk — more than by the grocery store by the dozen. I think our eggs come from a local farm,” Buchanan said.
Buchanan said she knows other establishments in the city have had trouble getting eggs, but it is not an issue she has run into yet.
Catie Harris is a server at Willalby’s Cafe in Madison. She said the increasing egg prices have actually been good for business. For many diners and breakfast locations in Madison, winter can be a slow season.
That’s not the case this year at Willalby’s.
“I think we are probably ordering more eggs. People don’t want to pay the higher prices at grocery stores and we haven’t raised our prices here for them because we get them in bulk,” Harris explained.
While the egg shortage is not impacting some local restaurants in Madison, Buchanan said the prices of other goods — such as avocados — are on the rise.
“That has gone up somewhere between 20 and 30 dollars a case, so that is a little more concerning at this point than eggs,” Buchanan said.