Frozen custard shop owner on rising egg prices: 'A lot of people are closing down and you know it’s scary to see that'

The ongoing egg shortage has forced a longtime Houston eatery that specializes in frozen custard to reduce staff hours, according to a report from Houston CBS affiliate KHOU. 

Connie’s Frozen Custard at 12545 Jones Rd. in northwest Houston has been in business for more than two decades with customers frequenting the establishment even during the occasional cold snap, but the increasing cost of eggs has dealt a blow.

According to KHOU, proprietor Matthew Greatens and his wife opened Connie’s in April 2022. 

Like every consumer and business, they, too, had to carefully navigate ballooning inflation, with the main component of the restaurant’s flagship item the latest to see high prices. 

“We didn’t think that it would be fluctuating that much,” Greatens said in the report.

The station reported there’s a law that requires frozen custard to have a minimum percentage of egg yolks, but the ever-changing cost of eggs has presented a challenge to Greatens’ eatery hence the slashing of staff hours. 

Per KHOU, Greatens hasn’t had to impose a price hike on menu items but the possibility remains. 

“A lot of people are closing down and you know it’s scary to see that,” he told the station.

Bloomberg reported that some Americans have resorted to purchasing eggs in Mexico though federal law prohibits people from bringing them into the U.S. Egg confiscations at the border have jumped over 300% compared to last year. 

“It’s really been a dramatic increase over the past few months,” U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesman Roger Maier said, according to Bloomberg.