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There are five items and five items only on the Mount Rushmore of Bro food: Pizza, burgers, barbecue, steak, and wings. There is no food we love more here at BroBible than wings. They’re the ultimate Bro food: Spicy, easy to wash down with beer, and best enjoyed in the company of friends. They perfectly compliment a variety of social situations: sporting events, happy hours, and late night munchies. Whether you flock to chain spots like Hooters, B-Dubs, and Wingstop or have a favorite local haunt like Dan and Johns in NYC, wings are always the right call.
Good news if you love going for wings with the Bros: Just a year ago, there was a scare that rising demand was causing a surge in the price of chicken wings nationwide. Now it’s going the other way after poultry wholesalers hit a pricing peak in September, according to data from Bloomberg.
Mmmm… Love my wings with bleu cheese and a big ole side of deflation, baby!
Surging demand last year sent wing costs to lofty heights. Now, that’s left them “priced out of menus” and some restaurants are promoting boneless varieties instead, Joe Sanderson Jr., the chief executive officer of Sanderson Farms Inc., said at a Goldman Sachs Group Inc. conference on Tuesday.
Wholesale wing prices in the U.S. Northeast reached as high as $2.1878 a pound in September, the highest ever in U.S. Department of Agriculture data for the past seven years. Since then, the cost has slumped about 37 percent and now sits at a seasonal four-year low.
The popularity of wings has climbed for years and tends to peak during sporting events like the Super Bowl. For national chain Wingstop Inc., bone-in wing costs eased 11 percent in the quarter that ended March 31 versus last year and deflation is expected to continue, according to a May 3 earnings call.
That doesn’t necessarily mean wings are going to be any cheaper – Your local bar’s $.25 wing night is still probably going to be one of the best deals around. But at least it means you won’t have to re-finance your home come football season just because you like to hit the bar twice a week for football and wings.
Speaking of wings: I have a great conversation about wings coming up this Wednesday on my podcast, SO STUPENDEOUS. NASCAR driver Chase Elliot is sponsored by Hooters and really has some spicy hot takes about pairing bleu cheese dressing with wings. I also have former Top Chef contestant and restauranteur Michael Voltaggio and NHL Hall of Famer Jeremy Roenick on the pod.
Grab a big old plate of wings and tune in this upcoming Wednesday! Subscribe in the Apple Podcast app and all that.