Super Bowl Sunday boosts sales of pizza and chicken wings restaurants

Super Bowl Sunday is a great day for football and restaurants.

But the chains that are likely to benefit most from the food of hungry fans have already seen their sales increase during the coronavirus pandemic.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, only Super Bowl Sunday is the largest holiday to eat. The big game attracted more than 100 million viewers last year. Non-football fans tune in to the NFL championship with interesting announcements, an entertaining half-day show, and food that spreads out at the clock parties.

For Yum Brands Pizza Hut, Super Bowl Sunday is the busiest day of the year. Domino’s Pizza usually delivers about 2 million cakes that day, 30% more than typical Sundays. Fat Brands, owner of Hurricane Grill & Wings, Buffalo’s Cafe and Buffalo’s Express, sells half a million chicken wings on Super Bowl Sundays. For Wingstop, it ranks among the top five annual sales days.

Throughout the pandemic, pizza and chicken wings have been staples of Americans ’quarantine diet. Both are known to travel well, and the top players in the categories have been working to make food more comfortable for years.

In its fourth quarter, Pizza Hut recorded 8% sales growth in the same US store. Domino’s has seen sales growth in the same US store hit double digits during the second and third quarters. And Wingstop, which was already surpassing the rest of the industry’s sales growth before the crisis, reported that its in-store sales soared 25% in the third quarter.

“If what we’ve just experienced over the last twelve months is an indication, surpassing industry sales, we expect it to continue this Sunday,” said Brian Gies, global director of marketing at Church’s Chicken.

Church’s Chicken, which serves boneless chicken and wing stores, launched Texas Tenders ’N Shrimp food in time for the Super Bowl this year to capitalize on that demand. The menu item was created to attract customers watching Lent, which does not begin until February 17th.

Wingstop CEO Charlie Morrison said through a spokesman that the company still expects strong sales for the big game. Compared to previous years, however, the chicken wing chain may receive more orders and lower average control due to the reduced size of the meetings. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recommended minimizing guest lists for surveillance parties and holding celebrations outdoors or virtually.

“I think it’s going to be a really big weekend for us and I think sales will be off the list,” said Andy Wiederhorn, CEO of Fat Brands.

The pandemic has also posed supply chain challenges for restaurant companies awaiting a busy Super Bowl. Prices of mozzarella cheese have risen, which will affect the profits of pizza chains. During the first week of February, Wisconsin wholesale prices per pound of mozzarella cheese rose to $ 2.70, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture report released Wednesday. In February 2019, mozzarella prices averaged about $ 2.15 a pound.

Chicken wing chains are under even greater pressure. Wholesale prices have risen and restaurant operators are reporting shortages.

Wiederhorn said the company usually sees a meager supply at this time of year.

“The only time it wasn’t a battle was when McDonald’s got into the chicken wings business, like seven or eight years ago, and it failed miserably. They threw all the wings into the market because they had to get rid of it. of them “. Wiederhorn said.

As a result, Fat Brands begins planning its Super Bowl wing orders a year in advance. But the supply problem is especially bad this year, as a result of outbreaks in meat processing plants and increased demand for chicken wings driven by high sales of deliveries in the category. Fat Brands provides frozen chicken wings to complement the usual supply of fresh wings.