Austin food truck scrambles to adjust its prices due to high cost of eggs ...0

AUSTIN (KXAN) --- Austin food truck, Egg Laari, specializes in egg dishes from India. But now, the food truck's main ingredient is driving up costs for the owners.

NBC News reported a dozen eggs now cost $5 on average as the bird flu outbreak continues to limit supplies severely.

To try and stop the spread, farmers kill millions of chickens and then raise the price of the remaining healthy chickens and their eggs to a premium.

Owners Sam Khatri and May Bhakta said their dishes come from Surat, a city in India. They incorporate eggs in nearly every dish.

"Our weekends are pretty busy. We go through almost 300 to 400 eggs. Without eggs, we won't be able to run this business."

They opened their business back in 2023, but just recently noticed an increase in prices and limited supply.

"It is a lot more than what we used to pay for. But also, we have to go multiple times because sometimes we are not able to get it," Khatri said. "Make two or three runs just to get those eggs."

With no end in sight, they posted a notice about a temporary dollar increase applied to each egg dish at the register. Khatri and Bhakta said they hope customers understand it was not a decision they took lightly.

"Three months, we kind of bear the cost of it," Khatri said. "Now we have to raise our price."

Price increases

This shortage impacted both local food trucks and national restaurant chains. Waffle House added a 50-cent surcharge for each egg it uses in an order.

Shoppers are also cracking under the rising prices. The Texas Restaurant Association noticed that consumers are adjusting how often they eat out.

"The dinner check or lunch check may be less," said TRA Chief Marketing Officer Tony Abruscato. "Where someone may have gone out three times a week, they're now choosing to maybe go out two times a week."

What caused this?

Experts blame a bird flu outbreak for scrambling the egg market and taking out more than 145 million chickens in the last three years.

Anytime the virus is found on a poultry farm, the entire flock is slaughtered to help limit the virus’ spread. With massive egg farms routinely housing more than one million chickens, just a few infections can cause a supply crunch.

Dr. David Anderson, an economist and professor at Texas A&M, said farmers must try to rebuild their flocks.

"We got to get more eggs so that those will hatch into pullets, young female chickens," Anderson said. "Then in about six months, they're going to start laying eggs and then get to their full maturity and start producing."

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