As the bird flu outbreak continues to sweep through the United States, nearly 158 million poultry birds have been affected as of February 12, 2025, according to the CDC. This has sent egg prices soaring, forcing businesses and individuals to find creative ways to adapt.

For many local diners, eggs are a staple ingredient they simply can’t do without — even as prices climb. Liam Guthrie, assistant general manager at the Duluth Grill, shared the impact on their business.

“Just in terms of last month compared to this month alone, it’s been a 150 percent increase on the price of eggs. And that is not just, you know, organic specific or cage-free specific. It’s across the board,” Guthrie said. Despite the steep price hike, the restaurant has chosen not to pass those costs onto customers.

“Of course, just being brunch, people expect to have their eggs, right? It would be, frankly, weird if a brunch place did not have any kind of eggs on the menu. So we’ve taken the stance to just not change our menu prices to reflect the increase in the price of eggs,” Guthrie explained.

At Sarah’s Table, a slightly different approach is underway. While egg prices have remained relatively stable due to their partnerships with smaller, local farms, other rising costs have led the restaurant to consider menu adjustments.

“Specifically, our prices haven’t actually gone up very much because our suppliers are smaller, local, organic farms,” said Pete Ravinsky, operations manager at Sarah’s Table. “But overall, there’s lots of other items that have been increasing consistently, so we are actually in the process of doing a small price hike on our menu because we change it seasonally anyway.”

Local farms, which usually provide a reliable egg supply, are also feeling the effects of the outbreak. Some have lost entire flocks to the bird flu, disrupting supply chains for small businesses.

“In fact, our historical number one local supplier has essentially dropped off the map because of this. So it’s really been checking in each and every day. Do you have anything for us? Is there anything that we can get?” Guthrie noted.

For backyard chicken farmers like Tara Krall, the demand has been overwhelming.

“We have people calling, texting, messaging, ‘Do you have eggs? Do you have eggs?'” Krall shared. “And we don’t like to price gouge, but people are voluntarily paying us $5 a dozen right now for our, you know, homegrown farm-fresh eggs.”

Whether it’s maintaining menu prices, tweaking seasonal offerings, or adapting to surging local demand, Duluth’s food scene is proving its resilience.

With the bird flu outbreak still unfolding, experts caution that egg prices may remain high for the foreseeable future. Stay tuned to WDIO.com for the latest updates on this evolving situation.

In the meantime, Duluth’s restaurateurs are proving that even when times get tough, they’ll keep serving up breakfast — eggs and all.