BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — As egg prices continue to rise, we speak with two local businesses about how it's affecting the way they do business and show you how a Kern County staple is being affected.
- Rising egg prices due to bird flu are impacting local eateries and consumer costs.
- The Consumer Price Index for eggs increased significantly from last year, affecting restaurant profits.
- Some restaurants, like Cope's Knotty Pine Cafe, are adding surcharges to egg dishes to fight the rising costs.
- Others, like My Spot Downtown Grill, are trying to keep prices low to attract customers despite rising costs.
- Small business owners express challenges in maintaining affordability while managing rising food costs.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
We've all gone to the grocery store and thought about taking out a loan to invest in what appears to be the new gold, eggs. I'm Sam Hoyle, your neighborhood reporter, with egg costs rising due to bird flu incursions on flocks across the U.S. how is it affecting area eateries?
According to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, the Consumer Price Index for eggs sat at right around 4.15 in December of 2024. While it's not the 4.82 that we saw in January of 2023, it is significantly higher than the 2.52 that we saw in January of 2024.
We're throwing a lot of numbers around, but what's the context? In simple terms, the higher the CPI number, the higher the price is for the average consumer overall.
Which is affecting area businesses when it comes to profits. One way that some restaurants are making up ground is by adding a surcharge to egg dishes. I called Cope's Knotty Pine Cafe on Friday and the person I spoke to confirmed that they were adding a surcharge but I would have to talk to the owner for an official comment, so I popped over for an omelet around lunchtime and snapped this photo while paying that explains that they've added a $1.50 surcharge for the time being, but will be removing it when the price of eggs comes down.
While some restaurants are passing along some costs to customers, others find it more difficult. Veronica Martinez, manager of My Spot Downtown Grill, said they know that people are already feeling the sticker shock at the store, and to bring people in, they feel they need to keep their prices similar.
"For people who work around downtown or are on the go and just -- or even want to try something new, but doesn't want to spend that much money; that's the reason we want to keep it low, so we can keep everyone," said Veronica Martinez, Manager of My Spot, Downtown Grill.
For Nancy Aguirre, owner of 502 Coffee, in the same building, it can be even tougher as food costs, not just eggs, rise across the board.
"It's, it's kind of difficult sometimes for people to kind of, or for us at least, to make that switch. because sometimes you're, you know your profit is not going to be the same, but you, like you said, I still am a small business and I still need to sell and I still need my product to be known out there so I need to make it affordable," said Aguirre.
Mid-next week, the Bureau of Labor and Statistics will be updating their consumer price index data for January of this year, we'll continue to update this story as more information becomes available.
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