Please purchase a subscription to read our premium content. If you have a subscription, please log in or sign up for an account on our website to continue.
Please log in, or sign up for a new account to continue reading.
Thank you for reading! We hope that you continue to enjoy our free content.
Welcome! We hope that you enjoy our free content.
Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading.
Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading.
Thank you for signing in! We hope that you continue to enjoy our free content.
Thank you for reading! We hope that you continue to enjoy our free content.
Thank you for reading! We hope that you continue to enjoy our free content.
Thank you for reading! We hope that you continue to enjoy our free content.
Thank you for reading! We hope that you continue to enjoy our free content.
Thank you for reading! We hope that you continue to enjoy our free content.
Checking back? Since you viewed this item previously you can read it again.
Please purchase a subscription to read our premium content. If you have a subscription, please log in or sign up for an account on our website to continue.
Your current subscription does not provide access to this content.
Unlimited access to the Taos News website for a full year! Plan includes access to our e-edition print replica online. Your auto pay plan will be conveniently renewed at the end of the subscription period. You may cancel at anytime.
Unlimited access to the Taos News website for 30 days. Plan includes access to our e-edition print replica online. Your auto pay plan will be conveniently renewed at the end of the subscription period. You may cancel at anytime.
Unlimited access to the Taos News website for 30 days. Plan includes access to our e-edition print replica online. This is a one-time purchase. Your subscription will not renew.
We offer home delivery of the Taos News in selected areas within Taos. Click Here to See if you Qualify (Shaded area on map only). (this subscription option includes unlimited digital access). Your auto pay plan will be conveniently renewed at the end of the subscription period. You may cancel at anytime.
The Taos News delivered to your Taos County address every week for a full year! We offer our lowest mail rates to zip codes in the county. Click Here to See if you Qualify. Plan includes unlimited website access and e-edition print replica online. Your auto pay plan will be conveniently renewed at the end of the subscription period. You may cancel at anytime.
The Taos News delivered to your Taos County address every week for 26 weeks! We offer our lowest mail rates to zip codes in the county. Click Here to See if you Qualify. Plan includes unlimited website access and e-edition print replica online. Your auto pay plan will be conveniently renewed at the end of the subscription period. You may cancel at anytime.
The Taos News mailed to your New Mexico state residence every week for a full year! For readers who live in New Mexico but outside of Taos County. Plan includes unlimited website access and e-edition print replica online. Your auto pay plan will be conveniently renewed at the end of the subscription period. You may cancel at anytime.
The Taos News mailed to your New Mexico state residence every week for 26 weeks! For readers who live in New Mexico but outside of Taos County. Plan includes unlimited website access and e-edition print replica online. Your auto pay plan will be conveniently renewed at the end of the subscription period. You may cancel at anytime.
The Taos News mailed to your New Mexico state residence every week for 26 weeks! For readers who live in New Mexico but outside of Taos County. Plan includes unlimited website access and e-edition print replica online. Your auto pay plan will be conveniently renewed at the end of the subscription period. You may cancel at anytime.
The Taos News mailed to your New Mexico state residence every week for 13 weeks! For readers who live in New Mexico but outside of Taos County. Plan includes unlimited website access and e-edition print replica online. Your auto pay plan will be conveniently renewed at the end of the subscription period. You may cancel at anytime.
The Taos News mailed to your New Mexico state residence every week for 13 weeks! For readers who live in New Mexico but outside of Taos County. Plan includes unlimited website access and e-edition print replica online. Your auto pay plan will be conveniently renewed at the end of the subscription period. You may cancel at anytime.
The Taos News mailed to your out of state residence every week for a full year! Plan includes unlimited website access and e-edition print replica online. Your auto pay plan will be conveniently renewed at the end of the subscription period. You may cancel at anytime.
The Taos News mailed to your out of state residence every week for 26 weeks! Plan includes unlimited website access and e-edition print replica online. Your auto pay plan will be conveniently renewed at the end of the subscription period. You may cancel at anytime.
The Taos News mailed to your out of state residence every week for 26 weeks! Plan includes unlimited website access and e-edition print replica online. Your auto pay plan will be conveniently renewed at the end of the subscription period. You may cancel at anytime.
The Taos News mailed to your out of state residence every week for 13 weeks! Plan includes unlimited website access and e-edition print replica online. Your auto pay plan will be conveniently renewed at the end of the subscription period. You may cancel at anytime.
The Taos News mailed to your out of state residence every week for 13 weeks! Plan includes unlimited website access and e-edition print replica online. Your auto pay plan will be conveniently renewed at the end of the subscription period. You may cancel at anytime.
The Taos News delivered to your Taos County address every week for 26 weeks! We offer our lowest mail rates to zip codes in the county. Click Here to See if you Qualify. Plan includes unlimited website access and e-edition print replica online. Your auto pay plan will be conveniently renewed at the end of the subscription period. You may cancel at anytime.
Officials at Blake’s Lotaburger announced Wednesday it will begin adding a surcharge for menu items that include eggs.
Nathan Lederman/New Mexican file photoIf you like to begin your day by wolfing down a breakfast burrito or breakfast sandwich from New Mexico’s best-known fast food chain, be prepared to start paying a little more for that habit.
Officials at Blake’s Lotaburger announced in a news release on Wednesday that the company would be adding a $1 surcharge to all menu items that include eggs beginning Thursday.
The surcharge was attributed to the price of eggs, which has soared over the past few months in the wake of an avian flu outbreak that has killed millions of egg-laying hens.
“We order eggs by the truckload weekly,” Blake’s marketing manager Tiffany Bornmann said. “It is absolutely one of our staple items.”
Bornmann cited figures showing that the price of eggs increased 134% across the country between December 2023 and December 2024, going from $2.50 a dozen to $5.87. The situation is even worse in New Mexico, she said — the average cost of a dozen eggs in the state is $6.80.
Bornmann said she doesn’t expect the company’s national competitors in the breakfast food market to match the Blake’s surcharge anytime soon. But she said the reason for the surcharge is that Lotaburger uses only fresh, cracked eggs in its breakfast burritos and breakfast sandwiches, while many of those other companies do not, opting for less-expensive substitutes.
“We’re not at a point where we want to serve powdered eggs or liquid eggs,” she said. “It’s a price we’re going to have to pay. Now, frankly, we’re at the point where we need help to be able to maintain that standard.”
Bornmann said Blake’s officials recognize that the $1 surcharge will be a hardship for many of the company’s customers. But she said the rapid increase in egg prices is not a cost Lotaburger can absorb on its own.
“Our patrons are just going to have to help us offset this,” she said.
The news release described the $1 surcharge as temporary. But Bornmann acknowledged she doesn’t have any idea when egg prices will come down enough to allow it to be removed.
“Nationally, we’re being told six to nine months,” she said, though she added she hoped it would be a shorter period.
The avian flu outbreak and the toll it has taken on the egg-laying hen population has been a double-edged sword for Blake’s, Bornmann said, causing not just an increase in prices but making it more difficult for the company to obtain the quantity of eggs it needs to meet customer demand.
“It’s hand in hand,” she said. “We’re having trouble getting them, and when we do, they’re so expensive.”
She said Blake’s officials debated whether they should announce the surcharge in the form of a news release. They ultimately decided that being transparent about the cost increase — and explaining the reasons behind it — was the best course of action, she said.
“We danced, we really struggled in doing this,” she said. “We knew it was going to set people’s hair on fire.”
An increase in egg prices is a something almost every shopper already has experienced personally, Bornmann said.
“Everybody going to the grocery store is feeling the same pain,” she said.
Lotaburger has dealt with product shortages and price increases from suppliers in the past, but the severity of the egg shortage is unprecedented in Bornmann’s experience, she said.
“I don’t know that we have [faced a similar predicament] — definitely not in my time,” she said. “Most stuff we’ve been able to absorb. But we’ve got a real problem happening here.”
This article first appeared in the Santa Fe New Mexican, a sister paper of the Taos News.
(1) comment
Although it will affect my fast food budget, I will happily pay the egg surcharge.
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
All comment authors MUST use their real names. Posts that cannot be ascribed to a real person
will not be moderated.
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person.
Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.