Missing Your Chicken?
Product and Labor Shortage hampers filling chicken orders.
KFC, Wingstop Inc. and Buffalo Wild Wings Inc. all say that due to steep prices for scarce poultry they are running out of or limiting sales of tenders, filets and wings. There are eateries and bars that have gone weeks without wings, owners say. Market-research firm Urner Barry annouced that chicken breast prices have more than doubled and wing prices are at an all-time record. Companies are speaking daily to chicken suppliers that are struggling to raise production because they are having trouble getting enough workers. Similar issues are weighing on other companies across different industries and around the country. At the start of 2021, chicken looked to be a bargain for U.S. restaurants. Closures and dining room restrictions had contributed to swollen stockpiles of chicken in cold-storage facilities. Boneless skinless chicken breast, industry’s flagship product, averaged around $1 a pound in 2020, according to Urner Barry. Now boneless chicken breast is trading at $2.04 a pound, the firm said. Over the past decade, the price averaged about $1.32 a pound. Chris Testa, president of United Natural Foods Inc., said this week the supermarket distributor is seeing chicken prices increase partly because of higher demand from restaurants. KFC told U.S. restaurant owners to remove chicken tenders and other items from online menus because of tight supplies, according to a company message. Their suppliers aren’t always delivering full orders of chicken, and restaurants are also limiting sales of the new Chicken Sandwich, according to spokesmen. The company also asked owners to remove in-store promotions for the chain’s $30 fill-up bucket, a multipiece chicken deal that generated a surge in sales during the pandemic. Join all that together with the current struggle to hire labor, looks like chicken will be at a premium.
