Bird flu: Bay Area restaurants brace for impact as egg prices soar and supply plummets

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — Avian flu hits the national egg supply hard. This limits supplies and drives up prices.

According to a recently released report by the USDA, the cost of a dozen large-shelled eggs in California costs an average of $8.90.

If you’re looking for eggs, you might be shocked by what you see.

At a San Francisco Safeway, you’ll see empty shelves and a sign advertising eggs for $9.99 a dozen if you buy organic eggs.

“It’s too much. It’s really crazy,” Miok Kim said.

At Trader Joe’s on Bay Street, eggs cost between $3.99 and $6.49 a dozen. The shelves are also empty.

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“I tried to buy some yesterday, but they didn’t have any in stock,” said Abby Needham of San Francisco.

The egg supply in California is really hard hit because of the bird flu.

“Prices are going up. You can still buy eggs for $5 to $6 a dozen and upwards of $9 or $10 if you buy organic eggs. But until we can get this under control, the supply of “Eggs will be limited,” said Bill Mattos of the California Poultry Foundation.

At Victoria Pastry Company in North Beach, where all cakes and cookies are made by hand, eggs are a key ingredient.

“Since the end of October, prices have been very high. Today, I was wondering when it was going to stop. We are afraid of not having any more eggs. What are we going to do?” said Merie Belluomini, co-owner of Victoria Pastry Company.

At Mo’s Grill, customers come for both omelets and burgers.

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The restaurant processes a case of 180 eggs per day, or two cases per day on weekends.

“Most of the eggs we use are for omelets,” Hossein Malek said.

Hossein Malek, owner of Mo’s Grill, says the price of a crate of eggs is very high.

“It’s gone up five times,” he said.

Usually, these organic eggs cost twice as much as regular eggs. But Malek says that today, all those eggs cost about the same.

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Malek tells ABC7 News that when he can’t find regular eggs from his supplier, he tries to buy organic eggs.

“So what I do is pick it up at Costco,” Malek said.

Many people are wondering how long the egg shortage will last.

According to Bill Mattos of the California Poultry Foundation, the supply of California eggs is down 40% compared to the same time last year.

“With our cage-free rules, farmers are working very hard to ensure these cage-free operations. And get your fresh eggs to market as soon as possible. Hopefully this will start happening next month and by Easter, see a good supply of eggs at a good price,” Mattos said.