Most consumers today probably take for granted just how ubiquitous traditional bone-in chicken wings are in the foodservice space, in large part because their popularity has been a long time in the making even though it is a relatively recent phenomenon for that popularity to reach a fever pitch.
While there were no doubt contributing events prior to this, a widely held origin story for flavored chicken wings in a restaurant setting can be traced to 1964 and a dish first offered at the Anchor Bar in Buffalo, New York. The idea behind what became known as “Buffalo-style chicken wings” spread rapidly, although it wasn’t until the 1980s or 1990s when the trend arguably went mainstream with the launch of several, now very familiar, restaurant chains that were dedicated to the “concept” of wings as a menu staple, either as an appetizer or center-of-the-plate offering.
Demand growth in the foodservice space based on the wing concept accelerated coming into the 2000s, not only through store count expansion but also increasingly creative flavors beyond the original hot and spicy Buffalo-style offering to help the category remain trendy.
Demand growth boosts prices
Because the U.S. broiler industry was also expanding aggressively due to efficiency gains in feed conversion and processing technology while chasing demand growth in other, more prominent, categories like boneless skinless breast meat, during the early phase of this boom period for wing demand, the impact on prices was relatively tame.
With the industry expanding at a slower rate overall after the turn of the century and demand growth for wings still accelerating, upward pressure on the wing market became much more noticeable. That said, it wasn’t until 2009 that spot whole wing prices averaged higher than spot boneless skinless breast meat prices over a full calendar year.
While that relationship fluctuated in subsequent years, it became an increasingly common sight for wings to carry a premium to breast meat, and by 2015, it was happening on a consistent enough basis to where it seemed wings had supplanted breast meat as “price leader” for the complex. That trend culminated in late 2020 with wing prices more than doubling breast meat prices.
Seismic shift in response
With the price imbalance between wings and breast meat reaching historic territory and surveys reflecting a growing tendency among younger consumers, increasingly the decision-makers for household food purchases, to favor boneless chicken products over traditional bone-in wings, it seemed inevitable there would be a reckoning for the wing market.
Sure enough, it crashed hard and spent most of 2022 and 2023 trading at a discount to breast meat. The wing market mounted a valiant comeback last year, but that proved to be a temporary swing, and wing prices remained well short of their previously lofty position relative to breast meat.
It seems like chicken products are as popular as ever, but the focus now is primarily sandwiches, wraps, strips and other similar items incorporating boneless white meat instead of bone-in wings. As a result, the bone-in wing market is languishing again. Bone-in wings aren’t just trading at a discount to breast meat; they’re on track to average less than 50% of the breast meat market during the second quarter of 2025. Wing prices haven’t traded that low relative to breast meat over a full quarter since 2003.
Prices remain important signals for downstream market participants, so the relative affordability of the wing market right now will likely start drawing attention at some point, but it is possible that we have entered a new era where wings no longer dominate the pricing landscape for chicken.
