how did an egg boycott lead to the founding of the national restaurant association?

The National Restaurant Association traces its roots to a World War I–era “egg war” started by Kansas City restaurateurs who organized a boycott against soaring egg prices, then used that success to launch a nationwide restaurant organization by 1919.

How did an egg boycott lead to the founding of the National Restaurant

Association?

Quick Scoop

In the late 1910s, restaurant owners in Kansas City were furious that local farmers had sharply raised egg prices, a key ingredient in countless dishes. Their collective decision to boycott those eggs not only slashed prices back down but also proved how powerful restaurant operators could be when they acted together, inspiring them to formalize that power as a national association in 1919.

The setup: Eggs get expensive

Right after World War I, farmers in and around Kansas banded together and pushed egg prices up to about 65 cents a dozen, a steep jump for the time. For small restaurants already operating on thin margins, this was a serious blow, because eggs were central to breakfast plates, baked goods, and many everyday menu items.

• Farmers coordinated to raise egg prices to 65 cents per dozen.

• Restaurants in Kansas City depended heavily on eggs for their menus.

• Individual owners had little leverage if they negotiated alone.

A simple way to picture it: imagine every brunch spot in a city suddenly paying double for eggs—omelets, pancakes, pastries, and custards all get more expensive or less profitable overnight.

The boycott: Restaurants push back

Kansas City restaurateurs were already organized locally as the Kansas City Restaurant Association. Instead of quietly absorbing the hike, they coordinated a boycott, refusing to buy eggs at the inflated price.

• The local association organized a unified boycott of high‑priced eggs.

• As restaurants stopped buying, demand dropped sharply.

• Under pressure, egg prices fell from 65 cents to about 32 cents a dozen.

This very visible victory became a kind of early case study in restaurant industry solidarity: it showed that when owners acted together, they could influence suppliers and protect their costs.

“In 1917 the Kansas City Restaurant Association successfully boycotted the rising price of eggs… Doing so got them national recognition…”

From local win to national movement

The egg boycott did more than just make breakfast cheaper again. It attracted attention from restaurateurs beyond Kansas City, who saw that a united front could defend their interests.

• The successful boycott gave the Kansas City group national visibility.

• Owners in other cities recognized the need for similar collective power against shared challenges like pricing, labor, and regulation.

• The idea emerged: turn this strong local association into a national organization.

In essence, the egg fight became proof-of-concept that restaurant operators, often small independent businesses, could have real bargaining power if they organized beyond city lines.

Founding the National Restaurant Association

Building on the momentum from the egg boycott, restaurateurs decided to formalize a national body. On March 13, 1919, sixty‑eight restaurateurs from across the United States met in Kansas City to create what would become the National Restaurant Association.

• 68 restaurateurs gathered in Kansas City on March 13, 1919.

• They pledged to represent tens of thousands of dining establishments nationwide.

• The new organization grew out of the Kansas City Restaurant Association’s earlier organizing and its high‑profile egg victory.

A later summary puts it directly: the egg boycott gave the Kansas City association national recognition, and “by 1919 they had become a national association.”

Why this still matters today

The egg boycott story captures a pattern that still shapes the restaurant industry in 2026: when independent operators act collectively, they gain a stronger voice on cost, labor, and policy issues.

• The association now represents hundreds of thousands of foodservice businesses.

• It lobbies on regulations, labor standards, and food safety, far beyond the original egg-price dispute.

• The founding moment is still remembered as an example of small businesses turning a supply‑chain crisis into long‑term political and economic power.

Today, when restaurant groups respond to things like supply shocks, pandemics, or inflation, they are essentially following the same playbook first tested in that 1917–1919 egg fight.

TL;DR: Farmers raised egg prices to 65 cents a dozen, Kansas City restaurateurs organized a boycott that cut prices roughly in half, that victory brought national attention, and within two years those restaurateurs used their new influence to convene a March 1919 meeting in Kansas City that launched the National Restaurant Association.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.