Is the U.S. experiencing a fried chicken shortage?

Foodservice in the U.S. is undergoing another major supply chain shortage, this time for chicken, according to reports from several major news outlets.

Strong demand for the new KFC chicken sandwich has resulted in a shortage of supply, David Gibbs, the Chief Executive Officer of Yum, said on an April 28 conference call. (Yum)
Strong demand for the new KFC chicken sandwich has resulted in a shortage of supply, David Gibbs, the Chief Executive Officer of Yum, said on an April 28 conference call. (Yum)

Foodservice in the U.S. is undergoing another major supply chain shortage, this time for chicken, reported several major news outlets in the past week.

What’s being reported

On an April 28 conference call, Yum (the parent company of quick service restaurant chain KFC) Chief Executive Officer David Gibbs said that “demand for the new sandwich has been so strong that, coupled with general tightening in domestic chicken supply, our main challenge has been keeping up with that demand.”

The shortage has been attributed to everything from surges in consumer demand to labor shortages in poultry processing due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Most restaurants specializing in chicken wings or pizza already had a strong off-premises orientation, which made it easier to shift operations during the pandemic. 2020 saw an explosion in virtual brands, with everyone from Bloomin’ Brands to Brinker International getting in on chicken wing delivery options.

Fried chicken sandwiches have also remained highly popular with consumers following the 2019 chicken sandwich wars. Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen and Chick-fil-A remain the industry leaders, but at least six other major quick service restaurant chains have added a chicken sandwich to menus since the beginning of 2021.

Meanwhile, Wingstop Inc.’s chairman, Charles Morrison, said in an April 28th conference call that “suppliers are struggling just as many in our industry are, to hire people to process chicken, thus placing unexpected pressure on the amount of birds that can be processed and negatively affecting supply of all parts of the chicken in the U.S., not just wings.”

The industry responds

Chicken production was slightly down for the first quarter of 2021 compared to the same time in 2020, according to data from the United States Department of Agriculture

Tom Super, the spokesman for the National Chicken Council attributed the lag to weather extremes, including the devastating winter storm in Texas earlier this year.

“Chicken producers are doing everything they can to overcome the devastating impact of Mother Nature when she inflicted the once in a lifetime winter storm on Texas and nearby states – major chicken producing regions,” Super said. 

“It will take time and effort to eventually replace the impacted hatchery supply flocks in that region, but supply should catch back up to demand soon.”

The USDA monthly composite weighted average exceeded the three-year average in April, which means that production is catching up to demand.

 “As chicken production begins to resume back to a more normal pace of output in the coming months, and there is a better supply/demand ratio, the market tightness should ease,” Super added.

View our continuing coverage of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

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