Toby Carvery has had to remove fried eggs from its 'all you can eat' breakfast menu, following on from supply chain issues making the ingredient growingly scarce.
The leading roast dinner chain has placed signs up across establishments to tell customers but it insists that it is only a temporary issue.
Reports show that supply issues, paired with soaring prices caused by the current bird flu are said to be behind the menu mix-up.
Read more: The food hygiene ratings of every Toby Carvery across the North East
The Mirror reports that the sign, seen by The Sun, reads: “Due to UK-wide supply issues following the outbreak of avian influenza, we are temporarily unable to supply eggs. Apologies for any inconvenience caused, we are working hard to rectify this as soon as possible.”
Toby Carvery is famous for its all-you-can-eat breakfast which costs just £5.49 which it serves every day until 11am. Customers have complained about the lack of fried eggs on social media.
One person said: "You still have fried eggs in your promotional pictures. But you don’t get them with a breakfast at the moment??"
Another added: "Extremely disappointing breakfast @tobycarvery in Hemel this morning. No breakfast Yorkshires. No fried eggs. Hash browns clearly leftovers from yesterday. And why do i have to pay an additional fee for my son to have cereal?"
Toby Carvery told The Mirror some restaurants are offering scrambled eggs instead of fried eggs.
A spokesperson said: "Like many restaurants, unfortunately Toby Carvery too has experienced a short term problem in relation to shelled egg supply. As a temporary measure in January we have offered our breakfast guests scrambled eggs as an alternative, but expect fried eggs to be back on the menu again soon.”
The cost of eggs has become a hot topic at the moment after the Consumer Price Index revealed that the price has skyrocketed by 60 per cent over the last year. The Grocer magazine said a third of eggs in the biggest nine supermarkets leapt in price in the past month.
The largest hike it saw was a six-pack of free-range eggs at Asda, up 18 per cent to £1.95, making it 30 per cent dearer than at the start of 2022. Alongside bird flu, egg prices have also risen due to the war in Ukraine as the cost of energy and chicken feed prices as risen significantly.
In November last year, a third of farmers surveyed by the trade body the British Free Range Egg Producers Association (BFREPA) reported they had reduced the number of hens in their flock because egg prices meant they were unable to cover their costs.
A quarter of the 165 farmers who responded told the BFREPA they had stopped production either temporarily or permanently due to this. There are currently 153 Toby Carvery sites across the UK and you can out where your nearest branch is and what time it opens by visiting the Toby Carvery website.
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