A Waffle House worker is expressing concern over the recent egg surcharge the restaurant is passing on to its customers. The company is billing it as “a temporary targeted surcharge.”
Creator Britt (@brittswafflehouse) has a TikTok account dedicated to her Waffle House work exploits. She created a video that received more than 174,000 views as of Friday.
The TikTok is set to a snippet of Rihanna’s “Unfaithful,” emoting, “I don’t want to do this anymore.” Britt shows a Waffle House menu. it has a sticker affixed to it announcing the surcharge. “Due to the nationwide rise in the cost of eggs, we’ve added a temporary 50 cent per egg surcharge,” it reads.
It also is positive-assumptive, saying, “Thank you for understanding.”
Britt asks helpfully in the caption, “Have you seen?” Plenty have already seen. Waffle House serves as a potential canary in the coal mine for egg prices.
What’s happening with the eggs?
According to NBC News, the surcharge went into effect on Monday, impacting its more than 2,000 locations. The article noted that a recent bird flu outbreak has been to blame for a spike in egg prices.
“In a statement, the comfort food franchise said the surcharge was triggered by the highly infectious virus, which has affected the chicken population and caused an egg shortage,” the article said. “More than 13 million hens have been lost or slaughtered since December after the bird flu outbreak, according to the Agriculture Department’s latest egg markets overview.”
The article also noted, “In the past year, the average price for a dozen eggs in the U.S. has jumped 50%, and the cost increase appears to have accelerated since November, the month Donald Trump was elected president, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.”
While the company called it a temporary measure, it also warned, “While we hope these price fluctuations will be short-lived, we cannot predict how long this shortage will last.”
NBC News also reported that competitor Cracker Barrel has taken notice. Writer Terry Dickerson went to town with multiple egg puns to convey what’s happening there. They wrote, “Cracker Barrel isn’t scrambling to catch up with soaring egg prices. On the contrary, the restaurant chain is trying to poach customers with a rewards program after Waffle House announced a 50-cent egg surcharge this week. Waffle House’s surcharge went into effect Monday, and Cracker Barrel wasted no time whisking away concerns that it would follow suit.”
Cracker Barrel is calling Waffle House’s “hospitality” into question for instituting a surcharge.
Viewers don’t appear all that concerned
Only a few commenters have come Britt’s way, but the ones who did were engaged.
“They have enough money to afford eggs,” opined one. “They don’t need that 50-cent charge.”
“Can I bring my own eggs!?” cracked another, leading the creator to respond with a pair of laughing emojis.
“50 cents per egg isn’t terrible,” reasoned one, while noting that if they were any more than that, “I’ll make them [at] home.”
Finally, one was willing to accept the higher price, “As long as it gets covered and smothered.”
@brittswafflehouse Have you seen?? #fyp ♬ original sound – Toby
The Daily Dot has reached out to the creator via TikTok direct message and to Waffle House via email.
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