Dallas-based Wingstop introduces chicken thighs – KIRO 7 News Seattle

DALLAS – A Dallas-based company is launching a new chicken offering.

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Wingstop, a Dallas-based company, announced Monday the launch of Thighstop, a virtual restaurant that serves chicken legs.

The subsidiary is focused on a “whole bird strategy,” Mahesh Sadarangani, CEO of Thighstop, told The Dallas Morning News.

“It’s a fun and tongue-in-cheek way to introduce a brand to an area where a lot of new virtual brands are being launched,” Sadarangani told the newspaper.

The thighs, which come in 11 flavors, are served with or without sauce, and there’s a boneless version too, reported CNN.

It’s a purely digital product that is only available through Thighstop.com or DoorDash, CNBC reported. The groceries are offered nationwide at 1,400 locations for delivery or take away.

All of Thighstop’s thighs are made in Wingstop restaurants, the Morning News reported.

“We put chicken in the middle of the plate,” Sadarangani told the newspaper. “We’ll do everything we can to make the thighs the center of the plate, not the bottom of the bucket.”

Wingstop executives tested Thighstop in seven markets in late 2020 before making it available nationwide on Monday, the Morning News reported. Dallas residents got it on Saturday.

During the pandemic, when restaurants reverted to delivery and pick-up options, sales of chicken wings rose, CNN reported. At Wingstop, sales in U.S. stores that were open for at least a year rose 21%, the network reported.

However, as more restaurants open as COVID-19 restrictions are relaxed, demand for wings, as well as high feed costs, have pushed prices up, according to CNN.

Chicken wing prices averaged $ 2.72 a pound last week, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. That’s nearly 20 cents more than the same week last year, CNBC reported.

Charlie Morrison, CEO of Wingstop, told Forbes that the thigh brand is a way for the chain to allay fears about the shortage of chicken wings.

“It is important for us that we use all parts of the bird,” said Morrison when he called last week. “It’s a strategic supply chain plan of ours where we can think about stabilizing prices and positively influencing the PnL (profit and loss account) of the franchisees, while still offering our guests something new and different. “

Thighstop meals are being sold in family packs and in individual combo packages, the Morning News reported. A three-piece bone thigh combo, served with fries and a sauce, is $ 7.99. A 12-piece thigh pack of bones that can feed up to four people costs $ 24.99, the newspaper reported.

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