For restaurant owners, this rise in egg prices presents a significant challenge. While the price of a dozen eggs are down more than 40 percent since December*, they are still far more expensive than they were a few years ago. With food costs already top of mind, the rising cost of eggs can quickly eat into profits. To mitigate the impact of rising egg prices, many restaurants are turning to creative solutions.
What's causing the rise in egg prices?
The increase in egg prices is due to several factors, including the impact of avian influenza outbreaks on egg-laying hen populations, increased feed costs, and supply chain disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Egg prices have been rising steadily over the past few months, causing headaches for restaurant owners and consumers alike. As a staple ingredient in many dishes, from breakfast favorites to baked goods, eggs are a critical component of any restaurant's menu.
Maintaining Restaurant Profitability
- Think about the whole plate: Be sure to employ menu costing tools like Shamrock’s MenuWizard to evaluate your operation’s biggest sellers. As eggs have gone up in price, some other commodities such as bacon, milk and butter have come down since 2022. Therefore, it’s more important than ever to keep an eye on the gross profit of each dish, and not be hyper-focused on single products.
- Get Creative: Reimagine menu offerings, adjust the volume of eggs in each dish. For example, a restaurant might opt to use egg whites instead of whole eggs in their omelets or serve smaller portions of egg-based dishes.
- Explore alternative ingredients: Some restaurants have started using flaxseed, apple sauce or tofu as egg substitutes in their baking and cooking. Liquid eggs are a great alternative to save money and labor!
- Improve your purchasing practices. Order in bulk to take advantage of lower prices, or work with suppliers to secure contracts that lock in prices for a set period of time.
- Think Outside the Carton: Implement stricter inventory management systems to ensure that all of their products are used before they expire, reducing waste and lowering costs.
- Manage your inventory. Stricter inventory management systems to ensure that eggs are used before they expire, reducing waste and lowering costs.
- Stay informed on the Market: Our Market Outlook report is updated weekly with what's coming in food pricing.
Rising egg prices are a challenge for restaurants, but there are many strategies that can be employed to mitigate their impact. From menu adjustments to better purchasing practices and increased transparency with customers, there are many ways for restaurants to navigate this difficult situation. By staying flexible and open to new ideas, restaurants can continue to offer delicious and affordable menu items, despite the rise in egg prices.
If you’re looking for help managing your profitability, check out our Profitability Calculator or reach out to your Shamrock Sales Representative to meet with one of our Restaurant Business Consultants.
*United States Department of Agriculture
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