Community Chat

[novamc1]

from Bloomberg News, April 29

The popularity of chicken -- from sandwiches and tenders to nuggets and wings -- is fueling such demand for fried poultry that America is starting to run short.

KFC says it’s struggling to keep up with soaring demand for its new sandwich, while North Carolina-based chicken-and biscuits-chain Bojangles reported outages of tenders across its 750 locations.

“We’re experiencing a system-wide shortage. But they will be back soon,” Bojangles’ corporate Twitter account wrote earlier this week in response to a customer frustrated by being unable to find the company’s chicken tenders.

Chicken, which is the most popular meat in the U.S., is finding a new level of demand after Popeyes introduced a sandwich in 2019 that went viral and sold out in weeks. The frenzy has now caught on at other chains as well, with McDonald’s Corp. and KFC, owned by Yum! Brands Inc., reporting this week that their new fried-chicken sandwiches are selling well beyond expectations.

“Demand for the new sandwich has been so strong that, coupled with general tightening in domestic chicken supply, our main challenge has been keeping up with that demand,” Yum Chief Executive Officer David Gibbs said Wednesday in a conference call.

KFC saw its comparable-store sales soar 14% in the most recent quarter in the U.S., due in part to its new chicken sandwich that’s selling twice as much as past new sandwiches.

McDonald’s, which also reported higher-than-expected first-quarter sales, didn’t mention any supply constraints when it reported earnings Thursday but did say sales so far of its new chicken sandwich line are “far exceeding expectations.”

Poultry companies have been struggling to keep up with demand from quick-service restaurants. The biggest challenge for Pilgrim’s Pride Corp., the second-biggest U.S. chicken producer, is labor, according to Chief Executive Officer Fabio Sandri. The company expects to pay $40 million more this year to pay and retain workers, Sandri said Thursday.

Wingstop Inc.’s chairman, Charles Morrison, whose business is built on chicken, also mentioned the problem this week.

“Suppliers are struggling just as many in our industry are, to hire people to process chicken, thus placing unexpected pressure on the amount of birds that can be processed and negatively affecting supply of all parts of the chicken in the U.S., not just wings,” he said in a conference call.

Some food companies may be able to capitalize on the opportunity: To try to capture some of the red-hot demand, Beyond Meat Inc. is planning to start selling a plant-based chicken product this summer, Bloomberg News reported earlier this week.

— With assistance by Michael Hirtzer, and Breanna T Bradham

[Dusty1]

It's going to get worse! On May 28 McDonalds is starting to serve a BTS Meal (If you don't know BTS you should. They are a Korean group of 7 performers & they are very entertaining. They do sing & dance, but they also do a variety of shows & they are hilarious.)

They mostly sing in Korean, but they released a song in English, "Dynamite", that has been on the Billboard Hot 100 for a while now.

And, their fans are serious. The BTS meal (Supposedly just a favorite of theirs to order.) includes a 10 piece Chicken McNugget.

[Sooner]

This has all the taste and smell of a huge publicity stunt.  Hold the bologna please. 

[CelticCrafter]

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@Sooner wrote:

This has all the taste and smell of a huge publicity stunt.  Hold the bologna please. 

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No, my daughter is in the restaurant industry and there are problems getting wings.

[novamc1]

I didn't post it, but another story has appeared in the past few days saying that feeding poultry has gotten much more expensive. Apparently, chicken feed isn't "chicken feed" when it comes to price and availability.

Sad that we--in the "Land of Plenty"-- have so many hiccups in the food chain that put dents in the food budget for many people.

[Spurt]

While supply may be limited in restaurants and fast food places, there's been no shortages in the grocery stores here---plenty of chicken in the meat section, and they even have lots of pre-cooked frozen wings, and chicken patties too.....I think someone is trying to create panic and drive up the price...like many things during the pandemic...

[SharkE]

Amarillo is getting ready to open a Golden Chick.  I prefer chicken and turkey over beef. Husband don't.  On 1 street, we have a Popeyes, Chick filet, Cane's chicken,  now a Golden Chick when it opens and I bet the grand opening with be manned by the police conducting traffic.

When they opened up Cane's chicken they had 2 cops out there making sure peace was maintained.  We drove on by. LOL   Wait till the newness wears off. People in Amarillo, area go nuts over any new eating place opening up. 

Other chicken outfits are up on the interstate too. Chicken wing joints.

[novamc1]

Conspiracy theories don't count for much among people who go to the grocery store and find the price of chicken higher than it was a year ago.  If the market supports a higher price, the price will be higher---economics 101.   

Pork looks like a relative bargain,  but that's just what I see  when I shop.  

[Sooner]

No shortages here but sure I can understand wings being in short supply.  

There are two per chicken.  How many does one person eat in a sitting?  And how many chicken wing recipes do you see every day?  

There are whole restaurants centered around wings.  So if you chomp down 10 wings in a combo pack that's 5 chickens.  Which would mean you could eat 10 breasts, 10 legs, 10 thighs also to consume the same proportion of a chicken. 

[stevieb]

I prepare and eat chicken and occasioally buy fast food chicken because chicken is an option but fortunately am not a big fan. Have never undestood the mass appeal of wings, nuggets, tenders and so on...