OAK HILL, WV (WOAY) – As the United States contends with another bird flu outbreak, egg prices are soaring and not likely to slow down anytime soon.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, sky-high pricing accounted for two-thirds of the total increase in food costs last month.
It’s cracking the budgets of restaurants and bakeries that regularly use eggs.
Cafe One Ten shared how they’ve been affected.
“We have a local farmer who sells us eggs and the increase hasn’t been as drastic as everywhere else,” said Owner Don Williams. “But a week or so ago I had to buy four dozen eggs (at a market) which were $7 each. Luckily, we don’t have to face that.”
Williams says the past three or four years have been crazy; they do what they must do. Cafe One Ten is open for breakfast, but their busiest times are lunch and dinner. If the egg situation makes it not profitable…
“We could possibly cut breakfast out but haven’t got to that yet,” he said. “We have a few regulars that come in and I’d prefer to keep it going for them.”
We take eggs for granted until the prices are out of reach or even tough to find.
“We do a lot of baking, a lot of cakes — definitely use a lot of eggs, not just for breakfast,” said Williams. “We increased prices about a year ago. We’re talking about maybe doing a slight increase again. That’s more about all food.”
Cooking at home used to save money, but with sky-high eggs…
“If you’re gonna make a three or four-egg omelet for four people in your family, (expect) to pay a good bit of money at the grocery store, plus your time,” Williams said. “So I think that’s helped us — food prices are expensive at the grocery store — you may as well eat out.”
Cafe One Ten has been open almost 13 years now and he says there have been a lot of highs and lows, and they’ve found a way to adapt.
“Luckily, the community has always supported us,” said Williams. ” I mean, even through something like COVID, we started delivering and doing to-go orders, stayed open and people were there for us. Hopefully, it’ll continue.”
