Veneta Countryside Pizza & Grill is bringing breakfast back to the menu starting April 17 after temporarily closing it Jan. 1 due to skyrocketing egg prices.
Oregon suffered a specifically high level of egg scarcity due to two reasons: a threatening bird flu pandemic called avian influenza that has killed millions of egg-laying hens, and new cage-free egg laws.
Elmira High School senior Darrien Hedgecock is glad that the omelets are back.
“I work at Countryside and it was truly tragic that they were gone,” Hedgecock said.
Consumers all over the United States have been impacted heavily by the shortage from the extreme rise in egg prices, leading to problems in diners and bakeries slowing down production.
For years, Countryside was paying average prices of $1-$2 per dozen egg boxes until the COVID-19 pandemic, where they then had to start paying $3-$4 per dozen. During the bird flu outbreak, their price per dozen skyrocketed to $10 per dozen. Countryside had to pay almost 1000% more on eggs.
Manager Bernie Harris thought that it was crazy that they were expecting them to pay that much for eggs.
“I loved the steak and eggs,” Harris said, “but I was not going to have people pay for these insane prices.”
Veneta Countryside Pizza & Grill is located at 88278 N Territorial Highway and will go back to serving breakfast all day on Thursday.
