The American public – 72 percent of which are overweight and 40 percent obese – has ratcheted up their taste for corporate food, and their hunger for it has driven up the prices of chicken wings, nuggets, and sandwiches… as chicken supplies go down.
Restaurant closures during the economic shutdown left freezers full of unsold chicken parts, so eateries began featuring chicken dishes to clear the inventory.
McDonald’s recently unveiled three new chicken sandwiches; Popeye’s and Wendy’s served up their versions of chicken on a bun. Burger King and other chains have new chicken sandwiches in the works, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The idea, however, seems to have worked a little too well.
In late April, KFC ordered its stores to pull chicken tenders and Nashville Hot items off the menu due to pending shortages.
The 900-store Wingstop chain reports paying 26 percent more for chicken wings now than last year; skinless, boneless chicken breast was fetching about $1 a pound wholesale in 2020 but now brings $2.04 on average, according to research firm Urner Barry.
Consumers are paying an average of $3.29 per pound for chicken at the supermarket, 3 percent more since January and up 11 percent compared to a year ago, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
“Demand for wings is more than we can currently fill,” Michael Cockrell, CFO of Sanderson Farms, a major supplier to Buffalo Wild Wings, TGI Friday’s, and other chains, told the WSJ.
Pilgrim’s Pride, the second-largest U.S. chicken supplier, reported $100 million in first-quarter profits, beating expectations with a nearly 50-percent gain year on year.
Analysts contacted by research firm FactSet expect Tyson Foods and Sanderson Farms to show similar strength when they report results from this year’s first three months.
The run on chicken will continue through the next few months, Pilgrim’s CEO Fabio Sandri said to the WSJ.
“Grilling season is just around the corner, when chicken demand is seasonally strongest,” he said.
TRENDPOST: We note this article to again illustrate the steep rise in prices and the trend for sharply higher inflation which will, in turn, force the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates. And when the Fed rates hit about 1.5 percent, equities will tank, and the economy will slump deeply into the “Greatest Depression.”
We note this article to also detail the junk food diet that permeates the American landscape, which is cluttered with junk food chains. As we have noted since the COVID War was launched, not a peep from politicians, so-called “health officials,” and Presstitutes for people to eat healthily and build up their immune systems to help prevent them from catching the coronavirus.
Indeed, as the CDC data proves, 94 percent of victims that died from the virus had 2.6 preexisting chronic conditions of which obesity, type 2 diabetes, and respiratory ailments were primary among them.
Yes, the “eat junk food” trend will continue. But, as we have forecast, so, too, will the whole health healing trend accelerate as a New Age 2.0 evolves. This will provide rewarding OnTrendpreneur® opportunities.
TRENDPOST: In April, the price of used cars in the U.S. grew by 8.2 to 9.3 percent, UBS reported, the market’s greatest monthly price spike since 1953 when the company began tracking car price movements.
With the economy reopening, jobs returning, and people ready to spend, many are turning to used cars because automakers have curtailed production due to a shortage of computer chips.
