Why Is It Difficult To Find Chicken Breast Right Now?

Poultry products often suffer shortages from time to time. Sometimes it could be eggs that are costly and other times there's a general shortage of chicken meat in stores due to things like the flu.

However these days, stores have been running out of bone-in skin-on chicken breasts. According to reports, this has nothing to do with the flu or shortage of chicken and more to do with the consumers.

Yes, the culprit in this case has been identified as the good ol' law of supply and demand.

Demand For Boneless Chicken Breast Has Increased

These days stores barely ever have bone-in Chicken breasts available anymore. This may be because consumers have been requesting more of the boneless chicken breasts.

Diane Souder, Perdue Farms' Senior Director of corporate communications and brand public relations, said about the shift:

"The most popular product in the fresh chicken category is boneless skinless chicken breast, which is why you see so much more of this form than bone-in offerings."

So, why is there a shortage? According to Souder, Perdue tailors its output to market demands, which means consumers determine what options are available in stores and which are less heavily stocked.

It is believed that this change could impact overall pricing as well as the fast food industry.

What May Come Of it

The average cost of boneless chicken breast in the US has hovered between 3 to 4 dollars since 2006 but in recent times, that has changed.

The price has risen to $4.41 as of April 2023, a relatively low value compared to 2022's $4.75 but still a substantial increase.

Prices are expected to fall over time as more stores stock up on boneless chicken and fast food that use bone-in chickens may increase in value as bone-in Chicken breast becomes more scarce.