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Wings are on the menu for the 2024 Super Bowl, with Americans expected to eat 1.45 billion as they watch the San Francisco 49ers and the Kansas City Chiefs battle it out. This year fans will get a break on that quintessential football fare. The cost of fresh chicken wings is down 5 percent and frozen wings are 11 percent cheaper compared to last year, according to the National Chicken Council.
That should be welcome news, given food prices are up 2.7 percent year-over-year as of December’s consumer price index. Why cheaper wings? COVID-19 supply chain problems are over and outbreaks of bird flu have been contained, so there’s enough supply to meet demand. As of January, fresh and frozen chicken wings are averaging $3.26 and $3.17, respectively, per pound.
“It was a turbulent year for the chicken industry, with high feed costs and outbreaks of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) challenging producers. Even so, producers rallied, producing more and heavier chickens, to ensure adequate supply for the big game,” said Michael Swanson, Wells Fargo’s chief agricultural cconomist, in a report for the company.
When it comes to how Americans eat their wings, National Chicken Council surveys find 53 percent prefer eating bone-in traditional wings. As for sides, 72 percent prefer french fries, with only 14 percent opting for mouth-cooling celery.
If shrimp cocktail or ceviche is on the menu, count it a touchdown as well. Prices for fresh shrimp are averaging $8.84 per pound, down 6.4 percent year-over-year. “Global producers flaunted strong production, and they are looking for the U.S. consumer to get in the game by grilling more shrimp or preparing a shrimp ceviche,” Swanson reported.
While sports fans will save on wings and shrimp, that’s not true of other favorites. Beef, chips and dips all will cost more for Super Bowl 2024, according to the Wells Fargo analysis. As of January, sirloin steak is up 2.3 percent per pound and ground beef is 12 percent more per pound due to record-low supply, according to Swanson. “While prices have eased from these highs, they are still at a substantial increase over beef prices for the 2023 Super Bowl,” he reported.
As for chips and dips, prices remain up since December. Tortilla chips are up 6 percent, potato chips are 5 percent higher, and salsa costs 3 percent more than the previous year. Revelers may want to consider swapping salsa out for avocado dip or guacamole. Prices for those remain largely flat, up just 1 percent year-over-year as of the end of December.
Teressa Bellissimo, co-owner of the Anchor Bar in Buffalo, New York, is often credited with inventing the classic Buffalo wing in 1964. Bellissimo cooked leftover wings in hot sauce as a late-night snack for her hungry son and his friends. The dish was an instant hit and was quickly added to the bar’s menu. Dick Winger, a hot sauce salesman for the bar, and Bellissimo’s son Dominic went on a road trip to promote the item and hawk hot sauce. The idea eventually caught on with restaurant owners. Spicy wings really took off in popularity in the 1990s when McDonald’s added Mighty Wings to the menu at some of its fast-food restaurants.
As for its rise to prominence during football games, the National Chicken Council attributes that to the popularity of sports bars with multiple TVs, piping in multiple NFL games on Sundays. Wings are an affordable and shareable snack, which has driven its popularity over the years.
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