Egg extra charges hit diner wallets: experts say consumers should be afraid of raising menu prices

Consumers are suffering from temporary extra charges due to a continuous lack of eggs in the US food system. But experts told the Fox business that these extras are less of the two evils when compared to the overall menu price rise.

Michelle Korsmo, CEO of the National Restaurant Association (NAR), said these additional charges are temporary measures and can be removed from the menu. Macroeconomic conditions improve.

“If restaurant operators add additional fees to their menu in such a situation, that’s because they’re generally optimistic that it will be resolved quickly and want to be transparent with customers about rising costs,” Korsmo said. told Fox Business.

For example, Waffle House, a Southern breakfast food chain, added a temporary 50 cent extra charge to all menus on Monday.

Waffle House, other companies add extra charges for eggs amid shortage

The company said “consumers and restaurants are forced to make difficult decisions,” and ongoing caused by highly pathogenic avian flu (HPAI) or avian influenza due to a dramatic rise in egg prices blamed for the lack of eggs.

The company did not specify when the bill would be removed, but said it would adjust or remove additional charges when market conditions are permitted.

Changing the price of a menu often adds an operator’s cost. It also doesn’t give them the same opportunity to be transparent as customers about why prices are changing, Korsmo added.

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“I think it’s something you’ll see most of the time with other types of inflation…it’s not coming back as low as it was before the swelling period. It’s a tougher economy,” Colmo said.

Sylvain Charlebois, professor and senior director of Agri-Food Analytics Lab, emphasized that additional charges can be adjusted or removed as costs fluctuate, but changes in menu prices are more permanent and prominent.

“Customers tend to react more negatively to visible price increases, even if the net costs remain the same,” Charlebois said. “Consumers may dislike extra charges, but extra charges provide transparency by itemizing certain costs, such as supply chain disruption, labor costs, and credit card processing fees.”

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Forest Leighton, Senior Vice President of Marketing for Customer Intelligence Platform Chat Meter, told Fox Business that many restaurant customers are questioning the value of their high-priced menu items.

Chat meters help restaurants analyze customer feedback and inform decisions regarding menu items, prices and operations. That data shows that in 2024 the number of reviews related to prices, known as “high” rose by more than 40%, while the number of people who mentioned the word “cheap” fell by more than 10%.

However, Surcharges can provide customers with transparency on why prices are rising. ,What additional charges are there?

Max Chodrow, one of the owners of New York City’s Jans, told Fox Business that he hopes he can add an extra fee, but legally he can’t do it within the city.

“Our costs are constantly increasing, and that’s not the only thing that can raise prices in consumer psychology,” says Chodorow.

He said the extra charges are easier to implement as people respond mainly to sticker shocks on the price of the menu. According to Chodorow, the only extra fee a restaurant can apply in New York is the car rewards to parties across a specific size or special event, which must be disclosed to customers in line with certain guidelines.

They are not allowed to do anything at the rate of “passing that and directly passing the leading employee,” he said.