MONTPELIER, Vt. (WCAX) – The spread of avian influenza has left people scrambling to find affordable eggs. So how are the prices affecting restaurants and customers in our region?
“This is my home away from home, the Wayside,” said Pat McDonald of Berlin.
The historic diner off Route 302 in Montpelier serves breakfast all day long.
“We go through about 600 dozen eggs a week,” owner Christopher Moore said.
A deadly strain of bird flu is decimating the country’s chicken flocks, resulting in a shortage of eggs.
The average price per dozen eggs nationwide hit $4.15 in December. But prices aren’t affecting everyone the same, meaning that for Moore, the cost of eggs for the Wayside hasn’t gone by the wayside.
“We use a local supplier, MacAuley’s out of Barre, Vermont. And they, in turn, get all their supply from local suppliers. Being local means that it doesn’t impact it the same way the national brands do,” Moore said.
With the limited increase in cost to around $3 a dozen, Moore says he won’t have to raise menu prices.
While the Wayside isn’t cracking under the costs, customers say things aren’t so sunny side up at the grocery store.
“Every morning I have eggs for breakfast and it’s getting expensive, everything’s getting expensive,” McDonald said. “There’s a point at which you can’t spend that money. I don’t know what that magic number is, but when I look at it, I go nope!”
“I actually bought eggs for myself at the grocery store the other day and I was shocked. I think I paid a little over $7 a dozen,” Moore said.
Others say the rising costs shouldn’t be ruffling so many feathers considering how much work goes into producing eggs.
“I think that eggs have been underpriced for a long time, so I’m OK if they’re up a little bit,” said Gail Graham of Calais.
Moore says with the current high costs, right now it’s cheaper to shell out the money for a local supplier.
As the bird flu continues to spread, it’s hard to say when prices might go down.
