Whataburger limits breakfast hours amid egg shortageWhataburger limits breakfast hours amid egg shortage

Whataburger Restaurants LLC took the unprecedented step Monday of reducing its breakfast hours to deal with a national egg shortage linked to an outbreak of avian flu.

The San Antonio-based quick-service chain, which has 770 restaurants in 10 states, reduced its breakfast hours to 5 a.m. to 9 a.m. on weekdays and 5 a.m. to 11 a.m. on weekends, the company said Sunday. It previously offered breakfast from 11 p.m. to 11 a.m. daily.

“While our supply team continues to work diligently to source more eggs, we feel a limited time period to serve our tasty breakfast dishes is a better alternative to stop serving them altogether,” the company wrote in a statement posted to its website.

Whataburger also posted the announcement on social media such as Twitter and Facebook.

The H5N2 bird flu outbreak this spring has claimed more than 36 million layer hens, nearly all in the Upper Midwest, the Minneapolis Star Tribune has reported, a loss of about 12 percent of the nation’s egg-laying capacity. Iowa is the nation’s largest egg-producing state, and the flu there has wiped out 24 million chickens, or 41 percent of its commercial hen population.

Prices for large Midwest eggs hit a record of $2.32 a dozen in late May, an increase of about 95 percent from the previous month.

Whataburger said it was working with its egg suppliers. The company’s menu features a variety of egg-based items, including taquitos, a biscuit sandwich, Breakfast on a Bun with a pork sausage patty or bacon, and a breakfast platter with scrambled eggs.

“It’s important to know this is a supply issue and not a health safety issue,” the company said. “We’re sorry for the inconvenience this may cause some of our customers, and we hope to return to our normal breakfast operations soon.”

Whataburger noted that it was working to find alternative egg supplies, but filling the gap would take time.

“Replacing the supply we have lost will take some time, but it is important to us to provide the highest quality food to our customers,” the company said. “We will continue to experience some shortages while we work to increase the available supply.”

Breakfast-oriented chains like IHOP, the 1,637-unit division of Glendale, Calif.-based DineEquity Inc., were also watching the situation.

“At present, we have not had any issues regarding the availability of eggs for our restaurants, but like the rest of the industry, we continue to monitor this situation closely,” an IHOP spokesman said in a statement Monday.

The shortage comes as more restaurants expand their breakfast offerings.

In March, McDonald’s Corp. confirmed reports that it planned to test all-day breakfast.

“We know our customers love McDonald’s breakfast and they tell us they’d like to enjoy it beyond the morning hours,” said Terri Hickey, a spokeswoman for McDonald’s, adding that the company planned to test all-day breakfast in April at some restaurants in the San Diego area.

For several years, breakfast has been the industry’s fastest-growing daypart, with visits rising 2 percent in the year ended December 2014, according to NPD Group/Crest foodservice market research.

Contact Ron Ruggless at [email protected].
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