Have high egg prices left you feeling fried instead of sunny side up? Imagine what it's done to Courtney Glover, who uses about 200 eggs a week. Or Najwan Natour, who serves up to 5,000 eggs every week.

Families and business have been grappling with rising egg costs for several months. In December, $4.25 was the average price for a dozen large Grade A eggs, a 60% increase from a year earlier.

It’s being driven by supply chain issues, recovery from high holiday egg demand and a lingering bird flu outbreak that has caused a loss of 43 million egg-laying hens since February 2022, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Glover opened Courtney’s Cakes and Sweet Treats storefront on Middlebrook Pike almost five months ago and she’s already had to raise her prices because of eggs. She goes through about 15 dozen eggs a week and is paying nearly twice as much for them as she did just four weeks ago.

“Now I'm having to raise my prices even more than I did (when COVID-19) hit,” she told Knox News. “It's like, at what point do you go up again?"

Making adjustments and riding the rising egg cost wave

The Courtney’s Cakes owner has eliminated items from her showcases and has been forced to find creative ways that don't require as many eggs to adjust to the extra expense for eggs and other baking ingredients.

“Today, we're starting with selling soups. We're gonna have soups with rolls for lunches throughout the week,” Glover said on Tuesday. “We've already added in tamales on Thursdays and those have done really well.”

So, in addition to sweet baked treats, the bakery now will provide lunch options like sandwiches, salad and soup, fulfilling a desire from customers in the industrial area for more grab-and-go meals, but also hoping to make up for higher expenses and the loss of sales from eliminating some baked goods that required eggs.

And the issue is not just eggs for restaurants and bakeries.

“Everything's gone up. Meat, ground beef, ketchup bottles, napkins – I mean, everything's three, four times what we've been paying,” Nick and J’s Cafe owner Najwan Natour told Knox News.

The Farragut restaurant raised prices about a year and a half ago when inflation began to rise. But despite having an egg-heavy breakfast menu and dealing with extra costs, Natour is not ready to do that to his customers again.

“I have to eat the loss,” he said. “There's nothing I can do. … There's (only) so much you can charge for an egg (or) an omelet."

The plan for now is to accept any breakfast losses and hope to make it up during the lunch rush.

Cracking through about 420 dozen eggs every week, Natour recently had a minor reprieve. A delivery of eggs was cheaper than the week before, dropping from around $6 per dozen for several weeks to $4 per dozen. When asked if he celebrated the win, he said he had a Twinkie.

“It's gonna fluctuate. There are times where it's been a dollar a dozen. You know, you gotta take the good with the bad.”

Scrambled Jake’s in Rocky Hill is taking a similar approach. The breakfast spot has numerous egg dishes. General manager Crandall Cavitt told Knox News that restaurant has adapted to the new normal and hasn't been too affected by the egg shortage.

“We're making it happen,” he said. “If we want to do breakfast, eggs are a part of it.”

Scrambled Jake’s typically uses around 45 dozen eggs a week, and has yet to raise prices, remove or limit menu items or make any other drastic changes.

Cavitt said it's possible a change would be necessary in the future, but the restaurant had not reached that point. A refreshed menu has been discussed, but not specifically because of rising egg prices.

Support and sympathy worth more than eggs

Despite the challenges local spots might be facing, many customers have continued to support their favorite establishments and even sympathize with owners.

“I cannot talk about my clients more at how wonderful they are,” Glover said appreciatively. “(When I have to raise prices) they constantly say, ‘You’re totally worth it. You are worth it.’ I am very blessed in that department."

Natour said customers have even offered to pay more than the listed price for their egg dishes. He quickly shuts down that idea. But he does encourage customers to be patient with the trend of higher prices at restaurants.

When egg prices will go down is uncertain, but they are expected to remain higher than usual for the next few months, Maro Ibarburu, associate scientist at the Egg Industry Center at Iowa State University, told USA TODAY. Supply and demand and reduced bird flu cases in chickens will be major factors if and when that happens.

Devarrick Turner is a trending news reporter for Knox News. He can be reached by email at devarrick.turner@knoxnews.com. Follow Devarrick on Twitter @dturner1208. Enjoy exclusive content and premium perks while supporting strong local journalism by subscribing at knoxnews.com/subscribe.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Egg prices are so high they're affecting restaurants prices