CLEARWATER, Fla. — The pandemic has led to shortages of many items. One of the latest is chicken wings. 

Spectrum Bay News 9 spoke to David Rhoden, owner of Clearwater Egg & Poultry about it. He says there’s an increased demand for chicken wings and prices have skyrocketed over the last year. 

“The demand for chicken is just unbelievable. And the fact that the plants are short employees, they just don’t have enough workers to meet the demand,” said Rhoden.

He says because the plants don’t have enough employees to meet demand, it’s harder to buy chicken and other meats, and prices are at an all-time high.

Rhoden sells meats to local restaurants. He says before the pandemic, chicken wings cost roughly $1 per pound. In May of 2020, he was selling them for $2 per pound. This week, they’re $3.70 per pound. 

“Every week, the price has been up 10 to 15 cents a pound. And it’s making the restaurants struggle for sure,” said Rhoden.

Rhoden says he’s also not able to get the number of items he’s ordering. He says since the start of this year, many restaurant owners he works with have only been able to get about 75% of what they order. 

David Berlo is one of Rhoden's customers. He owns Varsity Club in Clearwater. There is a sign on the door telling customers his new wing prices and why he had to raise them.

“We don’t want to not serve them so we’re going to serve them at a higher price,” said Berlo. He went on to say, “People were a little shocked at first but they understood.”

Rhoden and Berlo both said they don’t expect the prices to drop anytime soon.