There’s potentially good news for chicken lovers. Prices for chicken breasts across the country have plunged nearly 70% since early June, according to market research firm Urner Barry.
Consumers can only hope the restaurants that have raised prices on chicken items will reverse course on price-jacking and give some of that 70% price drop back to the consumer.
The parts of chickens that American consumers love most – wings and tenders -- have gotten cheaper, too, and poultry producers have moved production into high gear, Urner Barry said, quoting chicken industry analysts and executives.
Popeye’s, Wingstop, Wendy’s, and Burger King are all over the opportunity, rolling out new chicken sandwiches and wing deals trying to get consumers looking for food that’s a match for their ever-shrinking wallet.
Wendy’s is adding a new Italian Mozzarella Chicken Sandwich to its winter menu, Popeye’s is offering a new blackened chicken sandwich, and Burger King is putting an Italian version on its menu board.
So why have chicken prices suddenly reversed? According to Tyson Food, more active roosters in the henhouse have literally made the difference.
Eggs, however, aren’t rolling in the same direction
You would think that if the meat parts of a chicken go down in price, the rest of the chicken would follow. Wrong.
And if you heard somewhere that a dozen eggs would break the $12 price barrier, that’s wrong, too. That $12/doz. myth may have been debunked, but the forecast for egg prices still isn’t as rosy as you might expect.
Breaking down the egg conundrum for the grocery shopper, Trading Economics predicts that U.S. eggs are expected to trade at $4.28 a dozen by the end of the fourth quarter of 2022 and at $5.39 in 12 months' time.