Pub night with friends almost by definition includes a plate of chicken wings. But a run on the favourite appetizer for sporting events and other get-togethers along with supply chain issues brought on by the pandemic are threatening that tradition.
But unlike the fabled Chicken Little, the sky isn’t falling yet on access to wings, according to Chicken Farmers of Canada.
“Are we short on wings? No, but it’s tight,” said Lisa Bishop-Spencer, director of brand and communications for the Chicken Farmers of Canada.
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The big issue is demand for chicken wings has shot up during the last 15 months of the pandemic, stated Bishop-Spencer. But complicating matters is demand dropped from restaurants for all chicken products. That food service sector accounts for 40 percent of the Canadian market.
While more people bought chicken products at grocery stores, it didn’t match what was lost on the restaurant side.
The Canadian chicken sector reduced its production by a little more than 10 percent to deal with the decline from the food services sector, said Bishop-Spencer.
Import issues for chicken from the United States and Brazil have exacerbated the problem.
Bishop-Spencer said the situation is being dealt and “production has already started to increase, both here and in other countries. We can expect the availability of wings to increase, as well.”
