Our Chicken Wing Economy

March 1, 2010
Chicken-wing craze sends prices soaring

According to the Agriculture Department, the average wholesale price of wings in 2009 was $1.47 a pound, up 39% from 2008 and the highest it has been, adjusted for inflation, since the mid-1970s.

1970s stagflation here we come!!

Lobb says it's not a matter of simply raising more chickens. The nation's chicken producers turned out 9 billion birds in 2009, he says. Other than for wings, the recession has slowed demand, and the overall price for chicken has been soft. "As expensive as wings are, they cannot carry the entire bird," he says.

That was then. This is now.

July 26, 2010
Price Drop In Core Menu Item Contributes To Top-Line Growth Opp, Buffalo Wild Wings (BWLD) Given Buy-Rating

It's a company that has high exposure to the chicken wing market, and in a time when most proteins are much higher versus last year in terms of price, chicken wings have declined from an all-time high in January to below a normal level.

July 26, 2010
Analyst says chicken production to rise next year

The industry has been working through a bout of weak pricing brought on by oversupply.

1930s deflation here we come!!

Yes, we clearly need more chickens. 9 billion birds is not nearly enough. That's only 30 birds per man, woman, and child in the United States. Oh the humanity!

Have I mentioned my theory that I thought we were trying to combine the very best of the deflationary Great Depression with the very best of the inflationary 1970s? Chicken wings for the win!

As a side note, I'm still not bullish on our restaurant industry. I don't think two wrongs will make a right.