In response to high chicken wing prices, Atomic Wings added hand-cut thighs to menus.
Thigh Wings will be served naked, in a choice of either traditional Buffalo style or in a breaded, fried version, to optimize taste during delivery. It’s hand-cut to look like “the fan-favorite flat wing,” rather than a “square boxy wing,” according to the press release.
“We call it the ‘bigger, better wing,’” said Atomic Wings CEO Zac Omar. “Thigh wings are not only bigger and meatier, but they’re also crispier and juicier, too. We think we’ve discovered the most important innovation in chicken wings since bleu-cheese dip.”
Chicken thighs also give consumers a new choice between dark and light meat.
“When I was growing up, I worked at my dad’s chicken food truck in New York City. We always used to ask our customers if they wanted white or dark meat, and there was always a 50/50 split,” adds Omar.
“We realized that in the wing industry, customers don’t have the option of a dark meat product. With the rollout of our new thigh wing, we now have the ability to meet that demand of customers who want dark meat.”
Rising costs challenge operators
Over the past year, a combination of high consumer demand, product shortages and inflation caused the cost of chicken wings to skyrocket.
As a result, foodservice brands have begun testing consumer demand for chicken thighs. In June 2021, Wingstop introduced a new virtual concept, Thighstop, focused on chicken thighs in response to rising prices and shortages of wings throughout the U.S.
The addition to chicken thighs will cut costs for operators of Atomic Wings, Omar told Restaurant Business.
“We have seven franchisees,” he said. “For them, they bore the brunt of the wing prices and COVID. They’re loving the cost on this and they’re hoping guests will react favorably to it so it can take over a bigger portion of their product mix.”
