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Wing Supply Will Meet Super Bowl Demand

Hernando Today file photo by BOB EAST III (2008)

Workers at Jimmy Diablo's restaurant in Brooksville show off their wings.

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By RUSSELL RAY | The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 29, 2009

TAMPA - Internet reports of a shortage of Chicken wings – the most savory of Super Bowl snacks – have been greatly exaggerated, say restaurateurs and poultry officials.

No one will be running out of chicken wings this weekend, said Richard Lobb, spokesman for the National Chicken Council.

"Football fans in Tampa and across the country will have plenty of chicken wings this weekend," Lobb said.

The recent bankruptcy of Texas-based Pilgrim's Pride Corp., which accounts for a quarter of the U.S. chicken market, spawned reports of a shortage resulting from Pilgrim shutting down its plants.

Those reports, however, were false, Lobb said.

"Pilgrims is in Chapter 11 reorganization proceedings, but they are still operating and their plants are running," he said.

Chicken wing production, though, is down about 5 percent as poultry producers scale back in response to the poor economy.

The drop in production coupled with growing demand as the big game draws closer has caused wholesale chicken wing prices to surge.

"This happens every year," Lobb said. "The Northeast is seeing wholesale price increases of at least 15 percent."

Clearwater-based Hooters Management Corp., which owns 10 Hooters restaurants in the Tampa Bay area, is paying about 30 cents more per pound. Bill Moore, Hooters' vice president of operations, said the company buys its wings from Pilgrim's but hasn't experienced any disruptions in supply.

"We're not going to have any problems," Moore said. "We're confident that we're going to be ready to go on Sunday."

Walter Hill, owner of The Press Box, a sports bar in south Tampa, said he is paying $1.54 a pound for chicken wings, up from $1.05 three months ago.

"It's a lot harder to get chicken wings," Hill said. "With each year, the increase gets more and more."

Hill said he won't pass the added cost on to his customers.

"We just eat the difference," he said.

Reporter Russell Ray can be reached at (813) 259-7870.

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