In the Know: Shortages? Yo Publix, Costco, don't take our rotisserie chicken away
Phil FernandezEven on the best days, especially late afternoon and evening, that yummy and generally cheap rotisserie chicken can be tough to corral off the shelves of Publix, Costco and Sam's Club.
Patrons pop the popular pollo on their pushcarts, and out the door they fly, one after another, hundreds of thousands of them a day.
For example, Costco alone sells on average, almost 300,000 daily that it largely raises with its processing operations. Although company reps politely declined comment when I asked this past week, its own new investor documents show the sale of the most ever in 2021 at 106 million for that delightful price of $4.99.
But could your favorite fowl hit the wall in 2022?
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Shortages are on the increase across the board at stores for numerous reasons, much of it tied to the long-running supply line challenges that have roots going back even prior to the pandemic.
Now, it could get worse.
Dozens of December tornadoes in the South and Midwest that hammered chicken farms and hatcheries have complicated matters. And this past week, a few of those regions had newly found discoveries of a bird flu that could lead to wiping out more of the flock. The industry is on alert as it takes steps to prevent a spread.
“It’s definitely considered a period of high risk,” said Dr. Denise Heard, a poultry veterinarian and vice president of research for the U.S. Poultry & Egg Association. “I feel positive that we can tackle this (situation.) However, I would hope for the best and be prepared for the worst."
We've reached out to folks, including messages to representatives for Sam's and Publix, which had been busy last month with its Pine Island debut.
We made four visits to various Collier County venues Tuesday afternoon and the first half of Wednesday, and indeed, nothing roasted in sight. In every case, workers said there would be more later, so maybe a bit of bad timing. At mid-day Friday, the Publix at U.S. 41 and Immokalee Road, and the Sam's two miles east had about a half-dozen each available.
Is Costco the 'shizbang snap dizzle'?
Facebook, in usual fashion, has been buzzing.
"Y'all really had to go into Publix today and buy up all the rotisserie chicken?" Wendy Anderson wrote on Valentine's Day. "Just why? Now what am I supposed to do?"
"We grabbed the last one at the grocery store," said Lina Oprea, "and we didn’t even go late this time."
Teana Johnson shared what a lot of shoppers are confronting.
"I live in South Florida, and we do have a lot of bare shelves." Johnson said. "I think it really depends on the specific stores and areas."
And of course, the debate among thousands socializing online in recent days also included what market chain had the best birds. The Mashed food site has fresh rankings, so without further squawking, we'll include the ones on the list with Southwest Florida ties and a sampling of its comments:
1. Costco: "When it comes to rotisserie chicken, Costco is king."
2. Sprouts Farmers Market: "Have a freshness that can't be beat."
3. Sam's Club: "Blows Walmart's abomination out of the water."
4. Publix: "Price is reasonable, and their birds are always hot and fresh."
5. Whole Foods: "Don't taste good. Or, more specifically, there isn't much taste at all."
6. Walmart: "No one enjoys (being) forced to swallow a mouthful of chicken fat."
Local resident Mike Pelton would certainly agree with the top of the heap.
"Costco chicken is the $5 shizbang snap dizzle," Pelton said.
At the same time, Consumer Reports late last year did its own evaluation. It found that the worst sodium offenders were Sam's and Costco. In the middle of the pack for those with places locally: BJ’s Wholesale Club, Publix, Walmart and for the most part, Whole Foods.
The two supermarkets that received the strongest grades don't have nests around here: Kroger's Simple Truth and organic selections from Wegmans.
A tender moment, as in chicken tender
As we wait for Popeyes to hatch in Bonita Springs, a chicken competitor has made big plans to strut into Southwest Florida for the first time.
The 20-locale Huey Magoo’s announced it was more than doubling its sites by the end of the year and has plans to debut in the region after that, according to CEO Andy Howard.
Howard has signed new franchises to open eight stores in the Fort Myers and Naples area, said spokeswoman Ilene Lieber.
Asked about timing and addresses, Lieber said the first of them would likely open locally in 2023.
"Right now, we are still in the early stages with franchisees starting to scout locations, so I don’t have any locations or grand opening timeframes just yet," she said.
Most of its current spots are along the I-4 corridor from about Disney World to Daytona Beach. This year, they have more in the works there, along I-95 and I-75, other southern states and Las Vegas.
The company, with its tenders, bills itself as the "Filet Mignon of Chicken" offering products that are "all natural, with no antibiotics ever, no hormones, no steroids and no preservatives."
That would put it ahead in that department of Popeyes, which announced in 2021 it planned to decrease artificial ingredients as part of a five-year plan and appears headed to open on U.S. 41 near Bonita Beach Road within a month or less, based on the latest info.
Huey is "poised for enormous growth this year," Howard said. "We look ahead with fervor and pride to bring the best tenders on the planet to many more families nationwide.”
Rising on Rattlesnake Hammock
Reader Douglas Crowell asked:
What's up at the corner of Collier and Rattlesnake Hammock?
Thank you for the question. Well, quite a bit is in play there and on adjacent land.
In a nutshell, there's retail with space for undetermined restaurants and apartments.
Southwest Florida-based FL Star's behind the rising 265-unit Hammock Park Apartments, which is designed for luxury living, said Gary Hains, the group's vice president.
Leasing is anticipated to begin by about autumn 2023, Hains said.
And just adjacent to this, on a similar schedule, will come the 20,000-square-foot Hammock Park Retail Center, which will have 5,000 square feet available for dining, Hains said.
“The center is designed to complement our new Hammock Park Apartments," he said.
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Sephora setting up shop in local Kohl's
Four Southwest Florida Kohl's are among those receiving a makeover this year.
Look for 2,500-square-foot Sephora beauty shops to set up inside the retail chain in Naples, Cape Coral, Fort Myers and Sarasota.
The first three arrived on the Peninsula last year in the Disney World area, Melbourne and Jacksonville as part of a new partnership between the pair of entities that have a goal to place these in more than half of Kohl's 1,150 businesses by the end of 2022.
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The worldwide Sephora, in 25 countries, has 2,700 outlets, and within months here and other parts of the Sunshine State:
• Cape Coral: 513 S.W. Pine Island Road
• Fort Myers: 9357 Ben C Pratt/Six Mile Cypress Parkway
• Naples: 6381 Naples Blvd.
• Sarasota: 3950 Central Sarasota Parkway
• Brandon: 11151 Lake Brandon Drive
• Clearwater: 2514 State Road 580
• Clermont: 12305 US Highway 27
• Lady Lake: 492 N Us Highway 441
• Lakeland: 1401 Town Center Drive
• Ocala: 4031 SW 43rd Street Road
• Orange City: 1065 Harley Strickland Blvd.
• Pensacola: 9300 Baldridge Road
• St. Petersburg: 4820 Park St. N
• Tampa North: 3979 Van Dyke Road
Based at the Naples Daily News, Columnist Phil Fernandez (pfernandez@gannett.com) writes In the Know as part of the USA TODAY NETWORK, which with wire services supplemented this report. Support Democracy and subscribe to a newspaper.