Meat&Poultry - October 2013 - 16

business notes

McDonald’s prepared for Mighty Wings roll-out
The McDonald’s Corp. believes it is sufficiently staffed

The uncertainty of the supply chain is the main reason

and trained to accommodate a successful roll-out of its

why McDonald’s has slated the Mighty Wings promotion

newest product, Mighty Wings.

to run only for about the next six to eight weeks. Fenton

The bone-in chicken wing product was launched nationally for a limited time starting Sept. 9. It comes in two
varieties, a “drummette” or a “wingette,” that is lightly
breaded and seasoned with cayenne or chili pepper.
In a presentation at the Goldman Sachs Global Retail-

said McDonald’s is not shutting off the possibility of doing more with the platform.
“If it’s as successful as we anticipate it will be, then we
will work very diligently on getting more chickens,” he
said. “But you do have to start at times well in advance.”

ing Conference held Sept. 11 in New York, Tim Fenton,

As the first unique product platform to be introduced

COO of McDonald’s, said the restaurant chain has taken

at McDonald’s in a while, Fenton was asked whether the

steps to give Mighty Wings the best chance to succeed.

new wing products will add any complexities for the res-

“It performed quite well in Atlanta and Chicago [during the fall of 2012], and it took us almost a year to devel-

taurant chain. He said there is a longer cook time on the
wings, but McDonald’s has ample cabinets for storage.

op the supply chain and inventory to take it nationally,”

Fenton said there will be a promotional tie-in with

Fenton said. “Our partners to the north in Canada would

Mighty Wings and the National Football League starting

love to have been on this program with us and leverage

Sept. 17. While the Mighty Wings promotion will extend

the media spend that we are going to have – we just didn’t

at least through the fall, Fenton said McDonald’s already is

have the supply chain.”

prepping for several other new product launches in 2014.

Sanderson Farms ready to break ground
Sanderson Farms Inc. finalized a date to begin construction on a new poultry facility in Palestine, Texas.

dividend rate of 80 cents per share, the company reported.
“We are very pleased the board has authorized an in-

The company’s board of directors approved Oct. 1 as

crease in our dividend rate and granted final approval to

a start date for work to begin on a new feed mill, hatch-

commence construction of our next poultry complex,”

ery, processing plant and a wastewater treatment facility.

said Joe Sanderson, Jr., chairman and CEO. “Our solid

The Palestine facility has a processing capacity of 1.250

financial and operating performance, consistent growth

million head of chickens per week. Product is intended for

and strong balance sheet have allowed us to move forward

the big bird deboning market.

on both of these actions and further demonstrate our con-

The board also authorized a regular cash quarterly dividend of 20 cents per share. This represents a new annual

• Meat&Poultry • October 2013 • www.MeatPoultry.com

fidence in Sanderson Farms’ future and our commitment
to building shareholder value.”

http://www.MeatPoultry.com

Meat&Poultry - October 2013

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