We began to see the early signs of our current wing shortage as early as January 2014, when the cost of chicken feed began to drop, but the price of chicken stayed high due to a lack of production. Over the following spring and summer, chicken prices continued to climb despite feed costs remaining low. While chicken production in the forth quarter of 2014 was up, many industry analysts predict chicken prices won’t begin to decline until March 2015; this of course being less than ideal timing as we approach Super Bowl weekend, less than two weeks away.

Over the course of the last year, restaurants across the nation have been testing ways of working around the increased prices of wings. Restaurant owners are responding in one of three ways: increase the price of the wings and continue selling specific quantities, sell wings by the pound rather than a specific count, or present customers with alternative menu offerings. Andy Weiderhorn, Buffalo’s Café CEO, points out that this decision should be based on the surrounding market, since some customers order specific quantities with the notion of splitting the meal, while others aren’t concerned whether they order by quantity or by the pound.

Selling wings by the pound may offer the restaurant more peace of mind. Buffalo Wild Wings tested this tactic in their markets, and it proved to smooth out the volatility in their quarterly earnings. Rather than providing additional profit, this strategy may provide more consistency. Selling wings in specific quantities will result in some quarters with a fewer wings per pound, while selling by the pound means consistency in that the restaurant is selling the wings in the same manner in which they were bought.

Another added expense to keep in mind is transportation and delivery costs. Chicken wings will cost more on the coastlines because the majority of the chicken farming is done inland, in the mid-west for example, and shipping the chickens out to the coast lines takes time, money and resources; though the recent decrease in fuel prices should help to ease transportation costs.

Many restaurants are looking to other options and limiting the impact of the chicken wing shortage on their establishment(s). While Americans consumed over 1.2 million wing portions during the Super Bowl in 2014, there are a host of other popular snack offering available to restaurants as well:

Super Bowl Sunday is the busiest day of the year for pizza restaurants who, on average, will sell twice as many pizzas as they would on any other day of the year, according to the National Restaurant Association.

• Super Bowl weekend is the most popular grilling weekend of the year, second to only Forth of the July, when approximately 14 billion hamburgers will be made.

• More than 11 million pounds of potato chips, 4 million pounds of pretzels, and 2 million pounds of nuts will be consumed on this one day. Anyone care to guess how much salt is consumed?

• For those who like a little avocado on their burger, or guacamole with their chips, nearly 70 million pounds of the super food are consumed during the Super Bowl alone.

• For a lighter, possibly healthier option, get to popping – the popcorn that is. Americans will east more than 3.5 million pounds of popcorn during the game, and for those who skip the butter, this is one of the healthiest snacks of the day.

• Obviously nothing pairs better with football than beer, and that could be indicated by the almost 50 million cases sold on the day of the Super Bowl alone.

Other obvious menu selections will include offerings such as nachos, meatballs, macaroni salad, potato salad, hot dogs and brats. No wonder antacid sales typically increase 20% the day after the Super Bowl.

What’s on your Super Bowl menu? Are you going with traditional finger foods (like chicken wings), or experimenting with something different this year?

The post A Super Bowl without Chicken Wings? Say it isn’t so! appeared first on Houston's Blog.

Super Bowl Sunday is second only to Thanksgiving as the largest food consumption day in the United States.

PIzza Bags get a work-out on Super Bowl Sunday! Photo courtesy of American Metalcraft.

Roughly 28 million pounds of chips will consumed on February 2 this year, and nearly 8 million pounds of guacamole.  Barbecued ribs.  Steaks.  Burgers and hot dogs.  Fruit trays and veggie trays.  Dips.  Buffalo wings.  Yet with all the amazing food choices we have, pizza delivery remains the staple of Super Bowl viewers across the country, serving as roughly 60% of take-out orders on this national day of football observance.  Domino’s alone sells more than 11 million slices of pizza on Super Bowl Sunday, while Pizza Hut boasts a whopping 16 million slices.  Add those to the sales of other pizza chains and what you get is…well, a whole lot of pizza!

Are you ready for this year’s Super Bowl?  Are you rooting for the Seattle Seahawks, or will you pull for the Denver Broncos?  Who will you be cheering with?  And the burning question that begs to be answered–what will you be eating?

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