Eggflation leaves ABQ bakeries scrambling to adapt

Things aren’t exactly egg-cellent these days in the food-making business.

While breakfast may be the first thing that comes to mind when you think eggs, other egg users are also adjusting to the high price of the key ingredient, like bakeries, which go through dozens a day. The highly pathogenic avian flu, or HPAI, has been laying waste to egg-laying hens, and as a result, egg prices are expected to spike by 20% this year.

Egg prices have gone from $32 for 15 dozen to $110, said Cake Fetish owner Kendall Harris, whose cupcake batter alone uses 88 eggs a day. That doesn’t include the other desserts Cake Fetish makes, such as cakes and brownies.

“We’re definitely going to have to raise our prices,” Harris said, although she emphasized the price increase wouldn’t be drastic.

If customers tighten their budgets, Harris worries they may cut out splurge items like desserts.

“We’re not a necessity,” said Harris.

Menu pricing is one of three options mom-and-pop shops can consider when it comes to dealing with inflation, according to Carol Wight, CEO of the New Mexico Restaurant Association.

“Menus are not fluid like grocery prices, so you may see more restaurants charging a surcharge like Blake’s,” Wight said.

Blake’s Lotaburger announced last month it would add a $1 surcharge to all menu items that contain eggs due to the national shortage. And Waffle House has started charging $.50 per egg.

If eateries are looking to avoid raising menu prices, the second possibility, according to Wight, is menu adjustment — redesigning the menu to feature dishes that rely less on eggs. The third option is cost management, focusing internally on reducing spending.

But some bakers say they’re not feeling the impact.

Linda Manias, who owns Linda’s Dolci and moved to the United States from Italy, said she hasn’t been bothered by the rising price of eggs.

“In Italy, they are really expensive,” Manias said. So, from her perspective, higher prices are not that bad.

Manias opened her bakery a year and a half ago and has no plans to raise prices on her treats.

Flying Star Café owner Jean Bernstein has managed the price inflation by keeping her eggs in different baskets.

“Our bakery has contract relationships with several egg farming groups that have not been affected by the HPAI,” Bernstein said.