Lower prices give wing lovers reason to celebrate

Aug. 26—Tailgaters will be happy.

Chickens?

Maybe not so much.

Just in the time for the start of football season, prices for chicken wings have fallen to their lowest level since early in COVID-19 pandemic.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported this week that the average wholesale price of wings has been falling steadily from its peak of $3.25 per pound in May 2021, dropping to about $1.68 per pound in July.

That's the lowest monthly average since May 2020, a couple of months into the pandemic.

At Andy Gavin's Eatery & Pub in Scranton, wing prices have dropped so much that owner Don Surace plans to resume Wing Night on Tuesday nights for the first time since the pandemic began.

While he welcomes the savings, Surace said the prices sometimes make no sense.

Gavin's is now paying about $1.75 a pound for wings, close to the national average, but what it pays for chicken breasts is pushing double that, he said.

"Wings are down and breasts are still up," Surace said. "Last year, wings were up, breasts were down and then they kind of caught up with each other. Now it has flip-flopped, but it's the same bird."

He hasn't decided what Gavin's will charge for wings when Wing Nights return, which will probably happen sometime in early September, but he anticipates the regular price will remain $14.95 for 10 wings.

His other costs, including the price of take-out containers, have increased substantially during the pandemic, and Surace said there is just no happy medium.

"So the only break you get right now is wings are down," he said. "It's been a funny ride the last year and a half."

Before wing-lovers get too giddy over the lower prices, Gerrity's Supermarkets co-owner Joe Fasula offered a sobering reminder: Meat prices tend to rise and fall with the seasons, and what comes down almost invariably goes back up.

Gerrity's, which operates nine stores in Lackawanna and Luzerne counties, adjusted its retail prices downward when the wholesale prices dropped from the peak and they've dipped a little bit lower since then.

Right now, as summer winds down, people aren't eating a lot of wings, Fasula said.

"The discouraging news is, as soon as football season starts, as soon as we get more in the winter months, people are going to start eating a lot more wings, and the cost is going to go back up," he said, adding those prices could match or even exceed the previous peak.

People might want to consider stocking up now while prices are low, he said.

"It might be a good time to grab some frozen wings. They might be cheaper than you'll see later in the year," Fasula said. "If you have a good deep freezer, get them in there and hang onto them."

At R Bar and Grill in Nanticoke, the drop in prices means Wing Night is already back on Tuesdays.

Owner Lauren Maga said wings are 65 cents every Tuesday night, and it has been so busy that she recommends making reservations.

Last Tuesday, more than 50 people made reservations for Wing Night on top of many walk-in customers, she said.

On other nights, the price of chicken wings at R Bar and Grill is $12.95 a dozen, a drop from a high of $15.95 a dozen at one point.

Maga said the price she pays for a 40-pound case of chicken wings has dropped from a high of $180 to $85. She said the prices are almost back to pre-pandemic levels and she will continue to lower prices as the cost drops.

The problem, she said, is the price is still up for fryer oil, wing sauces, celery and blue cheese.

Wing night also is back on Tuesdays at Larry's Pizzeria in Nanticoke. Wings are 65 cents on Tuesdays at Larry's Pizzeria and $12.50 a dozen on other nights, down from a high of $13.99, said owner Larry Karnes.

Karnes said while he has seen the price of chicken wings stabilize, he also pays more for fryer oil, celery and blue cheese. The cost of styrofoam containers for chicken wings has tripled, he said. Additionally, he has seen a drop in demand for chicken wings which means a drop in profits for him.

"A lot of places are struggling right now," Karnes said. "People just don't have the money."

Contact the writer: dsingleton@timesshamrock.com, 570-348-9132

Contact the writer: dallabaugh@citizensvoice.com, 570-821-2115, @CVAllabaugh