Fast-food chain Wingstop just launched a new brand: Thighstop. As you may have guessed, it trades chicken wings for thighs.
Like the many ghost kitchens that popped up amid the pandemic, Thighstop is an online restaurant only available for pickup and delivery via DoorDash.
Its menu includes…
… bone-in and boneless thighs tossed in Wingstop’s signature sauces, plus sides like fries and rolls.
“We think thighs are the most under-appreciated piece of the chicken, left at the bottom of the bucket. That’s just not fair,” CEO Charlie Morrison told Yahoo Finance.
People chowed down on wings last year
During the pandemic, several surprising things were suddenly in short supply — toilet paper, flour, and, yes, chicken wings. Reasons included a harsh winter, more wing-centric ghost kitchens, and a 7% increase in chicken wing demand.
This demand was good for Wingstop, which saw its total revenue in Q1 increase by 28% YoY to $70.7m.
According to Morrison, the real opportunity is optimizing its supply chain by buying the whole bird, giving each part of the chicken its “rightful place in the center of the plate.”
Vegan chicken is also having a moment:
- Simulate, which makes plant-based chicken Nuggs and Discs, raised $50m in Series B funding earlier this month.
- Kellogg jumped on the trend, dropping its own vegan chicken brand in April.
What’s next, Gizzardstop?
