McDonald's wings go national. Can chicken market handle it?
McDonald's wings, called 'Mighty Wings,' will be introduced nationally in September after a successful run in Atlanta-area restaurants. Will McDonald's chicken wings make chicken wing demand take flight?
McDonald's wings, called 'Mighty Wings,' will be introduced nationally in September after a successful run in Atlanta-area restaurants. Will McDonald's chicken wings make chicken wing demand take flight?
Now it's official, although the rumors have been ... er ... flying all year: McDonald鈥檚 is taking chicken wings national.
The world鈥檚 largest burger chain announced Monday that Mighty Wings, an entr茅e of spicy breaded chicken wings, will debut in all McDonald鈥檚 locations across the country. The first batch of stores will have them Sept. 9, with a national rollout following on Sept. 24.
鈥淢ighty Wings,鈥� aren鈥檛 exactly new: McDonald鈥檚 began selling them, under the same name, back in 1990, and they were discontinued in 2003. But they were brought back for a limited market test in about 280 Atlanta-area stores last summer 鈥� a move that proved wildly successful. Now, they鈥檙e scheduled to be available through November.聽
Even before today鈥檚 announcement, the possibility of McDonald鈥檚 reintroducing bone-in chicken wings was ruffling feathers (sorry!) in the fast food industry and beyond. For one, Mighty Wings puts McDonald鈥檚 in direct competition with a new set of restaurant chains, including KFC, Popeyes, and a quickly growing sector of restaurants revolving around buffalo wings (Buffalo Wild Wings, Atomic Wings, etc.). McDonald鈥檚 is the biggest game in town, and the one with the most resources, so one can only assume that this isn鈥檛 exactly a welcome development in the chicken-heavy corner of the fast food world.
Second, it has the potential to create even more demand 鈥� and subsequently higher prices 鈥� for an already scarce resource: chicken wings. Due to increasing popularity and less than favorable agricultural conditions, including a widespread drought last summer, buffalo wing prices spiked 52 percent last year, and some analysts estimate that wholesale wing prices could pass $2 per pound by next January. (Chicken wing prices typically peak in late January, leading up to the Super Bowl). Joe Sanderson, chairman and chief executive of poultry producer Sanderson Farms Inc., told Bloomberg that Mighty Wings could 鈥渟horten up鈥� supply in the fall (Sanderson Farms does not supply wings to McDonald鈥檚).
For customers, McDonald鈥檚 Mighty Wings will come in packages of three, five, or 10 wings, starting at $2.99 (prices vary by location). They come with a choice of nine sauces, including chipotle barbecue, creamy ranch, and honey mustard.