Americans love chicken wings. Last year they ate three billion pounds of the sauce-covered poultry products. Buffalo Wild Wings, a Minneapolis-based restaurant chain that specializes in wings, has a market cap in excess of $1 billion. Great Sea of Chicago, makes Korean-style wings that are so addictive they have wall of fame for most wings consumed by one person in a sitting. (The record is 90.)
Americans also love pork. More than 80% of households eat "the other white meat." Bacon is so beloved it is being added to everything from vodka to ice cream and body fragrance. I have a great client (fargginay) in Chicago that sells a cologne called bacon.
Now “Pork Wings” are catching on. Some people seem to be passionate about the new “pork wings." These passionate consumers are called "Pork Dorks."
This new use of pork is apparently being launched by Farmland Foods, a division of Smithfield Foods. They are in the midst of transforming Farmland Foods from a supply/commodity company into a demand-driven innovator. Pig wings are one of many examples of what Farmland is attempting. (Others competitors like Pioneer Meats also market them.)
The product itself is a delicious cut of pork (which butchers know as the "shank," a part of a pig's leg) that you can eat with your hands like a chicken wing. A review of pig wings describes them as, "surprisingly tender and juicy, pulling clean off the bone." Think of it as a meatier, less messy version of a pork rib. It is becoming so popular that the New York Times did a review of the new delicacy. I have not seen “pig wings” yet, but restaurants who serve pig wings say consumers love them.
