Beth’s Cafe, on the facet of Aurora as you drive by means of Inexperienced Lake, is a battered, venerable diner that for many years has been the place in north Seattle to go when you might want to eat after midnight. It’s small, it’s unpretentious, it’s family-friendly, and it has an issue: eggs.
As practically everybody is aware of by now, an outbreak of chicken flu has killed so many chickens that the provision chain has been badly disrupted. Costs have gone up, shops are struggling to maintain eggs in inventory, and eating places nationwide are scrambling (pun supposed) to navigate the brand new setting. Some locations have modified their menus to de-emphasize eggs whereas others are charging extra — Waffle Home now has a 50-cent per-egg surcharge.
Amongst Seattle eating places, Beth’s is especially affected by this scarcity. It’s well-known for its huge, 12-egg omelets, and even its six-egg omelets and three-egg scrambles are heavy on the eggs. The diner goes by means of 15 to twenty instances of eggs per week, co-owner Mason Reed (who took over Beth’s final 12 months) tells Eater Seattle. A case is 15 dozen eggs, so which means the restaurant cracks open upwards of three,600 eggs per week, which averages to greater than 500 per day.
For the reason that onset of the chicken flu, Reed has been harassed about getting sufficient eggs to satisfy that demand. Beth’s had been sourcing its eggs from Wilcox Farms, however “recently we’ve needed to department out,” the proprietor says. Reed and his workforce have been going to Costco and US Meals’s Chef’Retailer and making calls to anyplace that may have eggs. The costs can fluctuate wildly, and a few distributors have limits on what number of eggs they will promote. “It’s been a juggling act,” Reed says.
“I really feel like a drug vendor looking for my supply,” Reed provides. “I’m calling round, going, ‘What’s the value? What number of are you able to supply?’”
It’s not simply the chicken flu inflicting costs to rise. At first of 2024, a brand new Washington legislation required all eggs offered within the state to be cage-free. The worth per egg Beth’s was paying jumped from 9 cents to about 27 cents; a case was round $40, Reed says. Prior to now few months costs have jumped once more and now Reed is paying anyplace from $80 to $150 per case, relying on the week. “It simply is absolutely turbulent,” says Reed.
Menu costs replicate these modifications. In 2020, the Triple Bypass model of the 12-egg omelet (with bacon, sausage, ham, and two sorts of cheese) was $22.50, based on the Seattle Occasions. In 2023, when Beth’s reopened after a brief closure, the value had ticked as much as $34.95. Now that very same omelet is $41.95. Reed says he’s raised costs twice for the reason that begin of 2024, as soon as to cope with the price of the cage-free legislation and as soon as to offset the price of Seattle’s rising minimal wage.
“Beth’s is legendary for his or her massive omelets, it’s not one thing I wish to do away with,” Reed says. However he’s considering menu modifications. Reed says the restaurant might attempt to have extra non-egg choices, together with tofu scrambles, and supply smaller parts for underneath $15. “We’re attempting our greatest to maintain costs as little as doable,” he says. Beth’s might supply $42 omelets for the wannabe aggressive eaters on the market, however at its core it’s a diner that’s alleged to serve reasonably priced, filling meals to households and dealing folks.
No less than Reed has discovered a steady supply of eggs, for now. “They’re much more than they have been, however [the price] shouldn’t be going up,” he says. His new provider is a California-based firm known as Alderwood Eggs, however he hesitates to throw that title round. “I don’t wish to put it on the market as a result of I don’t need everybody to purchase all my eggs.”
