‘Might become a delicacy:’ Beth’s Cafe, other eateries worried about growing egg shortage

The U.S. is facing a nationwide egg shortage due to an increase in avian influenza cases, also called bird flu, causing eggs to go for exorbitant prices.

More than 17 million egg-laying hens died from the bird flu in November and December of last year alone, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The department also shared it will take months to replace that many hens to get the quantity of eggs for consumption back at normal levels.

“It’s like over one dollar for an egg,” KIRO Newsradio traffic reporter Chris Sullivan said on “Seattle’s Morning News” on KIRO Newsradio Tuesday. “I mean, you can get an 18-pack of Busch Light and pay less than that per can.”

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The American Egg Board cited that the average price of a dozen eggs has increased by nearly 25% in just the last few months. For businesses like Beth’s Cafe, famous for its 12-egg omelet, this shortage has turned into a fatal blow.

“People see the prices going up, and it makes it harder for people to go out and enjoy breakfast as often as they want to,” Mason Reed, owner of Beth’s Cafe, said on “Seattle’s Morning News.”

Reed shared the 12-egg omelet is now $35, but depending on what’s added to it, it can cost nearly $46. The six-egg omelet is priced at $23.

“I don’t think, I mean, I hope that eggs don’t go away, but it might become a delicacy,” Reed said. “It might be a fancy thing that you can only have once in a while.”

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There are alternatives to eggs for prepared breakfast dishes and it’s an option Reed is warming up to.

“There are also plant-based egg alternatives and some of them are pretty tasty and good for you,” Reed said. “You use Himalayan salt, which kind of has a sulfury taste to it and gives it that eggy flavor. And it’s just made out of chickpea flour, mung bean flour and tofu. You blend it all up into a liquid and it behaves similarly to the way an egg would behave on the grill. It’s not exactly like an egg and, of course, you can’t have your runny yolk. It’s more of a scramble.”

In addition to the recent jump in egg prices, Seattle’s minimum wage rose on Jan. 1 from $19.97 per hour to $20.76, as stated in an ordinance from the City of Seattle. The new hourly wage is $4 higher than the state of Washington’s new 2025 minimum wage of $16.66 per hour.

“I want to be very clear about this. I’m all for paying people. We live in a very expensive city, and people deserve to get paid to work and they should be able to afford to live,” Reed said, acknowledging the egg shortage compounded with Seattle’s new minimum wage mandate has severely impacted business. “The thing I think people don’t understand is they see restaurants raising their prices, and they think the restaurant owners are being greedy. We’re not. This is very much a labor of love since the pandemic. We’re not laughing all the way to the bank. Most of us are just trying to keep the lights on, pay the bills and stay in business. Most restaurants are lucky to be breaking even right now.”

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Frank Sumrall is a content editor at MyNorthwest and producer of the Seattle Seahawks podcast, The Reset with Gee Scott. You can read his stories here and you can email him here.

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