Well hey there, February!
Though not traditionally a month of strong sales — being shortchanged a few days makes a big difference to the monthly bottom line — February is home to two major food events: the Superbowl and Valentine’s Day.
In The perfect match: Super Bowl and chicken wings, Vancouver restaurateur Sammy Hussein (Sammy’s Hot Wings) puts it simply: “Super Bowl is one of the biggest days we have.”
Chains echo this experience:
For Canadian chain Pizza Pizza, the televised event is expected to translate into such a high volume of orders, the company is recommending that customers place their requests online before game day to beat the rush. Last year, Pizza Pizza restaurants across the country sold more than 200,000 chicken wings for Super Bowl, chief marketing officer Pat Finelli says. In comparison, the company typically sells between 70,000 and 100,000 wings on a regular Sunday.
Similarly, Boston Pizza’s Canadian locations recorded a 55-per-cent increase in its in-restaurant sales of wings during Super Bowl last year, compared with a typical Sunday. For takeout orders, chicken-wing sales jumped to 108 per cent above normal, says Perry Schwartz, Boston Pizza’s director of communications.
Nine days later, chicken gives way to chocolate. In the U.S., consumers report plans to open their wallets along with their hearts this Valentine’s Day, with 46% planning to visit their favorite restaurants to celebrate the holiday, up from 39% last year (source: American Expres Spending & Saving Tracker).
Less popular than wings, pizza and heart-shaped ravioli? Woodchuck, aka: whistle-pig, aka: land-beaver, aka: groundhog. Less popular, but reportedly quite tasty — apparently a vegetarian diet and innate sciophobia make for tender victuals.
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