Wetherspoons has made a huge change to its breakfast menu, as food shortages have hit the pub chain once again.
Customers may notice that the UK's largest pub chain's breakfast offering has a major limitation for the time being, as the firm has been hit by an egg shortage.
Tim Martin 's company is now blaming the "temporary supply issues" on the current impact of avian flu on egg production.
While senior supermarket sources have said they are undertaking urgent talks on how to manage the egg crisis, Wetherspoons is currently managing it by offering alternatives to their diners.
Punters will notice that there are other options available to replace the eggs, such as hash browns, sausage or onion rings.
Speaking about the crisis, Wetherspoons spokesman Eddie Gershon told The Sun : “We can confirm that there are temporary issues with egg supplies at some Wetherspoon pubs, due to the current impact of Avian flu on egg production.
“We are experiencing issues in receiving all the supplies we require to satisfy demand in every pub.
“This is not specific to Wetherspoon and other hospitality operators and supermarkets are facing similar issues."
The shortage of eggs has been partly caused by another outbreak of avian flu but also a delayed knock-on impact from millions of birds dying during the summer’s heatwave.
Back in August of this year, the Department of Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs said it was "deeply concerned" about the scale of chicken mortalities in industrial chicken sheds.
Many of the birds, mostly broiler chickens bread for meat and not laying eggs, were dying from heat exhaustion as summer temperatures reached record highs in Britain.
Meanwhile, farmers are leaving the industry in their droves as rising costs stifle their ability to make profit from farms and smallholds.
This means fewer hens are laying eggs than ever before.
And because of rising costs, this has meant that it is harder for farmers and smallholders to make a profit.
However, this is not the first time Wetherspoons has been hit by shortages.
During the Eat Out to Help Out scheme, which was done in August 2020 to counter the economic impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, the chain ran out of ketchup.
And supply chain issues last year also meant that some Wetherspoons pubs ran out of booze.
In May, Wetherspoons boss Tim Martin warned of a slew of major changes as a result of increased labour, food and energy costs. It included various price hikes, with the price of beer in some pubs by up to 29%.
Meanwhile, the UK has been facing its largest outbreak of bird flu - with more than 200 cases confirmed on commercial premises, smallholdings, and in pet birds since October last year.
And a farmer who was forced to kill his entire flock of 10,000 turkeys has warned that UK Christmas dinner tables may be left empty due to the worst-ever bird flu outbreak.
Steve Childerhouse, 51, said producers had been “absolutely hammered” by the UK’s worst-ever outbreak of avian flu this year, meaning that the usual stock levels of turkeys and geese are “just not going to be there” this winter.
