Price of chicken wings takes off

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NEW YORK, March 1 (UPI) -- Increased demand in the United States has the price of chicken wings soaring, industry experts said.

Not long ago, "the poultry guys couldn't even give it away. Now prices have gone through the roof," said Andy Howard, purchasing agent for Wingstop, a restaurant chain in Texas, USA Today reported Monday.

Chicken wings, popular as a barbecue-flavored tavern snack, are found in supermarkets and national restaurant chains like KFC, Hooters and Pizza Hut, the newspaper said.

Richard Lobb, a spokesman for the National Chicken Council, said the price is affected by the supply of chicken because "as expensive as wings are they cannot carry the entire bird," from an economic point of view.

With the wholesale price of chicken wings up 39 percent from 2008 to $1.47 per pound, some restaurants now serve "boneless chicken wings," which are made of breast meat and have "a much higher profit margin," said Larry Schaefer, founder of the the restaurant chain Legend Larry's in Wisconsin.