Rita Fast Food Case Study

The United States Department of Agriculture categorizes the United States as the world’s largest poultry producer and the second largest egg producer. Recent findings of an outbreak of the H5N2 flu, commonly know as the avian flu, initially affecting the Midwest has shaken this industry and put it at risk. The United States first saw the presence of the flu back in December, but cases have been identified as early this April. The epidemic has spread at an increasingly fast rate throughout the states where even hardshell eggs have been found infected. Liquid eggs farms, where eggs are broken and blended together, have been the most affected; this mixture is used for cooking foods such as omelets. Flocks have lessen and estimated 46 million or

PennLive reports Rita's spokeswoman Ariel Vegotsky words, “never before in the history of Rita's has the chain been impacted by a national food shortage. We are not able to get our egg supplies anymore to supply our 600 stores." Since they can no longer meet their levels of supply and demand they have preferred to eliminate their egg based products and keep their business running with a similar tasting product. The same way Rita’s and previously mentioned H-E-B grocery stores have traded off their consistency for new actions, so has the fast food restaurant Whataburger, that has been reducing serving breakfast hours. Both producer and consumer behavior are happening, while sellers have been changing the way their businesses are run, buyers have been changing the way they

With less eggs in the market and unmet demand, results are high social cost burdened on customers. Egg prices have been known to increase and are scaled between 10% to 40% more than last year’s price. With price increase opportunity costs increase. Imagine that the common household consumes 4 dozens of eggs a month with a carton of egg valued at about $3 dollars, the opportunity cost of that house is 12 dollars they could be spending on something else. However, since eggs are a must in the kitchen their opportunity cost is the price increase eggs have suffered, it is extra money they are spending on eggs that could’ve been spent on something else in the grocery list. Although there are no extra costs producers experience, except time and factors of production (chickens) lost, with high demands and low