Why Chicken Wing Prices Are Going to Go Up In Minnesota

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Another shortage is going to be eating into our food budgets. It's a shortage most fowl...chicken wings! Sure there was trouble before the Super Bowl, but it's grown. And you know what happens when supply is low and demand is up?

Prices go up.

In Newsweek, you'll find this hard fact...

Isaac Olvera, a commodities and data analyst with supply chain firm ArrowStream, cited United States Department of Agriculture figures when telling Restaurant Business Online that the U.S. is facing "the lowest wing stocks we've seen since 2011."

Why Is There A Chicken Wing Shortage?

The National Chicken Council says the pandemic saw families getting way more wings. From Tom Super, spokesperson for the council, "Chicken production remained steady in 2020, and as long as people are sitting around watching TV and maybe drinking a beer, wings will remain in the game. Don't forget the air fryer revolution, either."

Is Demand Really Up That Much

Back to the National Chicken Council. They say restaurant wing servings in 2020 were up 7% from 2019 and frozen wing sales shot up just over 37%. That's not just here and there, it's all over the country, including Minnesota.

Partial List of Food Shortages During the Pandemic (Source)

• Grape Nuts
• Ketchup
• Soft drinks
• Canned Soup
• Meat, poultry and seafood
• Beans and grains
• Canned and frozen vegetables

With demand growing, but production remaining steady, it looks like we'll just have to going on a wing-and-a-prayer! What? You think that's a bad joke? Check out the top five worst chicken jokes of all time (great as dad-jokes, tho).

TOP 5 WORST CHICKEN JOKES OF ALL TIME

1. How does a chicken send mail to her friends?
   In a hen-velope.
2. What do chickens study at college?
   Egg-onomics.
3. Did you hear about the chicken who could lay eggs in the winter?
   She was no spring chicken.
4. Where’s the best place to find information on eggs?
   In the hen-cyclopedia.
5. Why did Mozart hate chickens?
   All they say is, “Bach-Bach-Bach!”

As always, if you have a comment, complaint, or concern about something I wrote here, please let me know: james.rabe@townsquaremedia.com

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Want to guarantee a supply of wings? Here's what you need to know...