As Chicken Prices Soar, This Company is Making Vegan Chicken Cheaper

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the chicken industry has been overwhelmed with shortages, inflation, and disease. Plant-based food company Alpha Foods just announced that it will combat the rising chicken prices by providing a plant-based alternative, lowering the cost of its signature vegan nuggets beginning on National Chicken Wing Day on July 29th. The plant-based pioneer is working to fill the market gap caused by what the company has deemed “chickenflation,” promising to cut its own products’ cost by every cent that the price of conventional chicken goes up.

Currently, male roosters have started underperforming, which has led to a massive shortage of products coming from the animal-based chicken industry. The market saw prices for traditional chicken wings jump from $1.50 per pound to $3 or $4, giving Alpha Foods the opportunity to undercut the chicken industry’s market dominance.

“In the past few months, chicken prices have skyrocketed, leaving consumers looking for alternative options,” Alpha’s Chief Marketing Officer Kierstin De West said. “By lowering the price of our plant-based chik’n products in line with chickenflation, we’re encouraging people to try something new, without the pressure of changing their entire diet.”

Alpha Food is storming the chicken market on National Chicken Wing Day, planning to position representative outside of fast-food restaurant Popeyes and other locations around Times Square. The company aims to persuade consumers to purchase Alpha Foods’ vegan chicken rather than purchasing animal chicken, underlining the rising cost of chicken products. The company will also offer a 30 percent discount coupon to people at these locations.

The plant-based company also plans to advertise on the iconic NASDAQ billboard in NYC. The full plant-based takeover is an attempt to show consumers how plant-based chicken is the future, especially underlining the rapidly inflating costs of chicken. The company will also feature a full-page advertisement in The Wall Street Journal.

Alpha Foods has joined a rapidly growing list of companies sprouting up to offer vegan protein in recent years. Plant-based giants continue to charge the chicken industry in an attempt to change consumer behavior worldwide. Beyond its chicken products, Alpha Foods currently offers tamales, burgers, and crumbles that can be found at more than 9,000 retail locations across the United States. The company secured a $28 million funding package during its investment round last year led by AccelFoods. That growth came after a $7 million funding round in March 2019.

Earlier this week, fellow plant-based giant Beyond Meat tackled the chicken shortage on National Fried Chicken Day. The company offered customers the chance to try its new Beyond Chicken Tender for free through DoorDash. Other vegan companies have also taken to creating plant-based chicken to fill the market gap. Daring Foods, Field Roast, Impossible Foods, and more have pushed their development to perfect vegan chicken products, especially as the demand for chicken continues to rise over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic.

While fast-food companies race to perfect a new chicken sandwich, some have already started working on incorporating vegan alternatives to the menu. McDonald’s, Panda Express, and KFC have already either started trials or began working on plant-based chicken to compensate for the chicken shortage and the rise of plant-based consumers. Alpha Foods is preparing for this shift and potentially pushing fast-food giants like Popeye’s and its customers to reevaluate its dietary options.

Seven-time Grammy Award winner Carrie Underwood has been hailed for her “enormous” vocal range. When it comes to her diet, Underwood’s a fan of breakfast burritos and lots of tofu. She doesn’t shy away from the carbs, either. According to Cheat Sheet, one of her favorite snacks is a toasted English muffin with peanut butter.

Singer, songwriter, and “The Voice” coach, Blake Shelton, 43, has been working to stay fit recently with help from his long-time love, Gwen Stefani, who is a vegetarian and told him to get off the meat if he wants to feel fitter and lose some weight. Shelton has been trying to keep up with Stefani's impressive fitness level, according to an interview Stefani gave this fall. The former No Doubt singer and Hollaback girl is a longtime vegetarian, eats a mostly vegan diet, and is super fit-- and at 50, looks younger than her years. A source told Gossipcop, “Gwen’s told him the way to lose it is to stay the hell away from meat and bad carbs.” We're rooting for him!

The best-selling female country music singer in history isn’t buying any expensive steak dinners after a performance. The “Queen of Country Pop” has sold more than 100 million records but says she keeps her meat-free diet simple. She is both vegetarian and eats very little dairy -- though at times has said she does eat eggs.

Americana singer and songwriter Annette Conlon is also a passionate vegan. She started “The Compassionette Tour,” in an effort to bring compassion, social consciousness, human interaction, and animal issues to a mainstream audience.

The Man in Black is synonymous with country music, even nearly two decades after his death (1932-2003), probably in part because of the biopic about his life starring vegan actor Joaquin Phoenix. Ask any die-hard country music fan (or your dad, for that matter) and they will tell you that Johnny Cash was one of the best-selling musicians of all-time. His scores of hits include “I Walk the Line” and "Hurt" "A Boy Named Sue" and dozens of others. Cash himself was believed to have lived meat-free later in life to help combat some health issues. At Johnny Cash’s Kitchen and Saloon in Nashville, you can also load up on the meat-free dishes as the restaurant boasts a fully stacked veggie menu that includes greens, sweet potato mash, and fried okra.