Pilgrim's Pride Bankruptcy Causing Buffalo Wing Shortage, Superbowl Panic?
When Pilgrim's Pride, a processor of chicken, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy earlier this year, did it decrease chicken wing production? Are we on the verge of a chicken wing crisis?
From UPI:
The Dec. 1 Chapter 11 reorganization filing of Pilgrim's Pride Corp. of Pittsburgh, Texas, has reduced the nation's wing supply, Buffalo suppliers say.
Add to this the fact that national wing demand this time of year far exceeds that of other times, like chocolates around Valentine's Day.
The combination has made prices soar, suppliers say.
"Forty pounds (of wings) would be like $85," Sam Musolino, owner of Sammy's Pizzeria in nearby Niagara Falls, N.Y., tells WIVB-TV, Buffalo.
He used to pay only half that amount, he says.
Mr. Musolino is calling for a boycott of chicken wings in order to send a message that wing prices are too high.
Tragic.
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Comments:
Oh no, my fiance's gonna cry if he can't have wings at our superbowl party. Please Pilgrims Pride, don't make a 6'1 220 lb guy cry. It's not pretty.
Maybe speculators will further drive the price up. My car gets 28 miles to the wing so hopefully I don't feel the pinch too much.
Did anyone incorrectly read his name as "Mussolini" at first? Or was it just me...
Those pilgrims should have known better than anyone else the wages of pride.
Well I'm on my way to $0.05 wing night at my local bar. Hopefully it won't be the last one for a while.
$1.00 per wing nights coming soon to your local bar.
America no like when not enough wing of buffalo there be for America to gain 10,000 pounds on Superbowl.
ARGGHHHHHH!
America BOMB!
@Davan:
Me too. I was waiting for the other shoe to drop:
"Mr. Mussolini is calling for a boycott of chicken wings in order to send a message that wing prices are too high...He will also invade Ethiopia."
I thought this was an Onion story at first glance. Because, chicken wing shortage? Really?
I didn't realize the Pilgrims settled Texas, too.
@Applekid: Maybe hoarding might be the right thing to do. Buckets and buckets of wings, in closets, in the garage and so on.
Tommy want wingy!
I work for a food distributor, and we haven't really seen wings going crazy right now, even in the middle of some promotions. Hopefully they do start selling though, with the Superbowl coming up and all (you know, because it's good if we sell product to people).
@nicemarmot617: I'm sorry for laughing at the imagine of a bawling big man with no wings to comfort him, but I can't help it.
I just love that someone found a way to use parts of the bird that no one really wants to eat otherwise. (The rest goes into McNuggets)
For some reason, people LOVE to eat wings on the subway.
Could you imagine what he price is going to be once the liquidators get a hold of Pilgrim's Pride remaining stock?
Snapped this pic from the back of one of their trucks: [www.flickr.com]
I don't even want to know what that man has been doing to those chickens.
wings are so much work with little reward. how's our nation's thigh supply?
"Forty pounds (of wings) would be like $85"
I don't know where he shops, but I live in Rochester (60 miles away from Buffalo) and the restaurant supply chains are selling wings for 1.99 a lb in a 10# box. I would have to imagine, that if I was a major buyer of wings, the price would be better then that.
P.S. Love CrazyMann's comment.
Lucky for me I live in Buffalo. The wing shortage will never get us here.
Also, they are called wings, not "Buffalo Wings".
Curses! Now I am craving Buffalo wings.
There is supposed to be a spring lettuce shortage too.
Wings: too much bone and skin, not enough meat. I pass.
This has been going on for centuries. Why do you think black folk still eat pigs feet and intestines and nasty shit like that? It's because there wasn't much else going around! Personally, I think it's better to use the entire thing if we're going to kill it, but that doesn't mean I want to be the one stuck eating cow pancreas. Somehow though I don't think Sargeant Whiskers (my imaginary cat friend - my dog died half a year ago and I'm still grieving) would mind though as long as it's ground up with some fish bones or something.
That's only if you're in Buffalo. Everywhere else they're called buffalo wings. Kind of like how when you live in China, it's not Chinese food, it's just food. Well, not really, but yeah.
@trujunglist: The misunderstandings must be coming from people who have never grilled thinly sliced cow tongue over an open flame. Yummmmmmy!
@wickedpixel: I find that offensive, some people have a medical condition that causes obesi--... oh wait, you were talking about chicken?
plenty of Pilgrim's pride chicken wings at my local grocery store. I have like 8 packages in my freezer ready for the Superbowl. My little DeLonghi deep fryer is going to be working overtime.
@Yoni K:
Ummm, that's Henrietta, Bo Pilgrim's "pet" chicken.
ncboy used to work there, but fortunately saw the writing on the wall & we got out 2 years ago.
@jackjackson: $1.99/lb isn't that far off the $2.13/lb that the article quoted. Maybe the guy just uses a slightly more expensive supplier...
Hmm, no chicken wings? Then do what they did in the 70's before wings hit the scene. Chili, burgers, steak tar tar, etc. Give me a break. What a non story. Besides, 90% of the time wings are the nastiest food item. Greasy, fatty, and gross.
@ncgirl:
Oh, and the chicken is stuffed - he takes her to parades and various other public appearances.
Also, right across from the HQ in Pittsbug, TX is an enormous bust of Bo sitting atop a gazebo:
www.flickr.com
@nicemarmot617: Buy them now and freeze 'em, or get frozen ones now. Even though I don't watch football, and don't know when the super bowl is, I always get the biggest craving for hot wings on super bowl weekend. Some kind of telekinetic, sympathetic, snack food phenomenon. Somehow, my subconscious knows, and I'll comb 3 grocery stores or so in search of chicken wings before I figure out that its the superbowl, and there aren't any. I've done this like 3 years in a row now.
@trujunglist: Except that the origin of hot wings is from somewhere during the 20th century, most likely in the past 30 years.
@failurate: Many people are attempting to store them in the garage, which can lead to enormous bbq's that are triggered by accident. Be smart about how you store your wings!
Finally some good news about the economy! Pilgrims Pride is finding that animal abuse and yes they have been documented many times abusing animals, is not profitable. There are a lot of good food options out there that don't involve eating the corpse of another living being.
Look, just do some boneless wings. Those come with actual meat.
@jackjackson: There a different quality of wings the ones you are talking about smaller then the ones you get for 80$ a case, although I have not seen the price hit that. I have also not see the price go bellow about 60$ a case in 2 years. My restaurant uses about a ton of chicken wings a month. I have however noticed a major decline in quality, wings cut wrong, wings not cut, the little tail parts still in the case.
I don't understand the wing thing at all. Wings are the most expensive part of the chicken, and they have the least meat. It's cheaper to get breasts than wings, yet people still get wings.
In my area (mid-atlantic) there's been a wing shortage since the beginning of the NFL playoffs. With Carolina, Baltimore, Philly, Pittsburgh and NY being in the playoffs, there were plenty of people who never bought wings buying lots every weekend. The demand is a lot lower now that all but one of those teams are out, but the wing shortage is nothing new, and pilgrims pride really doesn't have much to do with it. Hell Purdue is HUGE in this area and even they can't keep up with demand.
Production of chicken at Pilgrim's Pride continues unaffected by the chapter 11 reorganization. Certainly all the chicken producers want prices to be higher. The margins on chicken have always been small and last year when corn and fuel skyrocketed, chicken was being sold at a loss. The companies can't organize and agree to cut back production to help raise prices and they certainly can't agree together on minimum wholesale prices. But I can assure everyone that Pilgrim's Pride growout and processing of chickens continues unaffected by the chapter 11 filing.
Turkey wing suppliers, now is your chance.
Strike while the sauce is HOT!!!!!