CONSUMERS in the United States are set to eat a whopping 1.45 billion chicken wings on Sunday, 4 February, as they sit down to watch the Super Bowl.
America’s National Chicken Council (NCC) issues an annual report on the state of chicken consumption over the Super Bowl weekend, with Kansas City and San Francisco set to face each other this year.
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Chicken wings were seen as an inexpensive side-product when Americans began to prefer breast meat over whole birds.
And bar owners quickly realised that spicy, salty chicken wings sold as a snack during sporting games drove beer sales.
“Football is great. Wings are great. But they’re even better together,” said NCC spokesman Tom Super.
“Sure, you can have your chips, your guacamole, your pizza. But when it comes to menus next Sunday, wings rule the roost. So, grab a wet nap and enjoy America’s favourite party food for the Big Game.”
The NCC came up with some facts and figures to demonstrate just how many wings would be eaten:
- 1.45 billion wings is enough for every man, woman and child in the United States to eatfour wings each.
- If Kansas City Coach Andy Reid ate 50 wings daily, it would take him79,452 yearsto eat all 1.45 billion.
- 1.45 billion wings is enough to put693 wingsoneveryseat inall30 NFL stadiums.
- If laid end-to-end, 1.45 billion wings would stretch1/3 of the way to the moon.
- If each wing represented one second moving forward, 1.45 billion would be46 years from now, or the year2070.
This year’s projection is flat compared to 2023, with the USDA reporting chicken production levels slightly down from last year and wing stocks in cold storage down 13% in November compared to the year prior.
The NCC said this could explain the higher demand and, thus, the higher wholesale wing prices.
At the retail level, fresh chicken wing prices are down approximately 5%, and frozen wing prices are down 11% compared to January 2023, according to Circana data.
