Chicken Wing Shortage?

On Sunday, more than a billion chicken wings will be eaten.

Super Bowl Sunday wing sales are not unlike turkeys on Thanksgiving, marshmallow peeps on Easter and ham on Christmas. Wings are the go-to food on Super Bowl Sunday.

However, the National Chicken Council (NCC) notes that wing prices are now up to about $2.11 a pound, the highest on record and up 26 cents, or 14%, from a year earlier.

Certainly food shoppers are used to seeing higher prices on certain products, but there has been speculation that demand is so high that there will be a shortage of chicken wings this coming Super Bowl.

Not true, says NCC vice president and chief economist Bill Roenigk, who said the annual spike in wholesale prices for chicken wings doesn’t translate into a spike in retail prices paid by wing lovers.

“The good news for consumers is that food service and retail outlets generally plan months in advance for the NFL playoffs and Super Bowl Sunday, meaning that increased wholesale costs for the most part aren’t passed on to consumers’ plates,” he said.

Whether watching the game at a restaurant or at home, consumers will pay about the same for chicken wings this year as they did last year. The amount of wings consumed this year is actually estimated to be down this year from last year.

Enjoy the game!