Waffle Home is including a 50-cent per egg surcharge to clients’ orders, citing the affect of ongoing egg shortages and rising costs attributable to chook flu.

As a substitute of accelerating costs throughout its menu, the 24-hour breakfast chain is choosing “a brief focused surcharge tied to the unprecedented rise in egg costs,” the Norcross, Georgia-based firm mentioned in a press release. “Whereas we hope these value fluctuations might be short-lived we can’t predict how lengthy this scarcity will final.” 

Based on a forecast by the U.S. Division of Agriculture, the value of eggs will rise 20% this yr. 

Chook flu, previously referred to as extremely pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), was confirmed in a industrial flock within the U.S. three years in the past. The outbreak has worsened in current months, with 17 million egg-laying hens slaughtered in November and December, in accordance to the USDA’s Animal and Plant Well being Inspection Service. HPAI affected 85 industrial flocks, together with egg-laying hens, in January alone.

The common value of a dozen massive, grade-A eggs got here to $4.15 in December, up from $3.65 in November, in accordance with the Bureau of Labor Statistics.  

Eggs are the most-ordered merchandise at Waffle Home, which operates about 2,100 areas in 25 states. The eatery serves 272 million eggs a yr, in accordance with its web site. That compares with 153 million servings of hash browns and 124 million waffles.