How Wing Fest Became The World’s Largest Chicken Wing Festival

Rooster wings haven’t all the time been the foodie favourite they’re immediately. Significantly within the UK.

As a baby, actually, Wing Fest founder Richard Thacker noticed his chicken-farming household struggling to provide them away without cost.

“Solely the Asian markets needed them, so tons bought exported,” says Thacker. “Having grown up with a father who was working and rising a enterprise, nonetheless, I used to be looking out for concepts from a really early age.

“I had plenty of respect for my father and the common-or-garden hen, so when he planted the seed of doing one thing with wings, it caught immediately.”

Armed with roughly 15 years of hen wing know-how and several other journeys to America in the hunt for the key to their stateside success, Thacker opened a small road meals pop-up in London’s The Star by Hackney Downs.

“In 2013 taking on pub kitchens within the type of ‘pop ups’ had simply begun evolving as an idea and it was an enormous studying curve,” he says.

For the primary time, he was accountable for meals margins, kitchen processes, gear, meals hygiene practices, getting ready meals en masse, and extra.

“It was a significant step in understanding the hospitality trade and growing the idea, but in addition a comparatively low barrier to entry by way of monetary danger—so a fantastic start line.”

By 2014, he was eager to make his personal mark in London’s rapidly-expanding road meals scene, so determined to develop by launching ‘Randy’s Wing Bar’ as a standalone idea.

“The ‘higher burger’ class had change into a factor, BBQ and pizza was evolving, and several other different meals sorts had actually raised their recreation, however wings had been positively new to the scene,” he recollects.

After all, ‘new’ comes with its personal challenges. Gourmand hen wings weren’t an idea or delicacies most individuals had been conscious of (or eager on attempting, because of below-par quick meals choices), and their market share could be small till that modified.

“The concept of placing on a hen wing competition, predominantly, initially, was simply to assist market my road meals stall!” he admits.

And, regardless of changing into the world’s largest hen wing competition within the years since, it was a sluggish begin.

“The idea of Wing Fest bought folks instantly however convincing them it could possibly be a ‘factor’ and to get entangled was a special story. Within the first yr, there was no pitch price. I needed to pay all of the merchants £100 [$130] to cowl value of their wings!”

Fortuitously when The Orange Buffalo—one other trailblazer of London’s wing scene—introduced they’d be taking part, different road meals merchants and impartial eating places adopted swimsuit. Even when most solely serve hen wings as a facet dish.

Solely, it wouldn’t be a lot of a competition with out prospects, they usually had been proving onerous to seek out.

“Getting this message out to the plenty on zero advertising and marketing finances was the true problem,” says Thacker. “I did my finest to write down a press launch—as I’d learn that was the factor to do—and despatched it out to whoever I might.”

With the venue secured (albeit a carpark of a restaurant in Dalston), 300 tickets to promote, and 7 merchants in search of an ROI on their time, the stress on his one-man present was mounting.

“I ran a good ship when it got here to prices and budgets,” he admits. “P&Ls and forecasts apply irrespective of how small the enterprise.”

Thacker took on most duties himself to start out, budgeting simply £5000 ($6,530) of his personal cash to launch the competition.

And when foodie TV programme Sunday Brunch gave the occasion a shoutout a number of weekends beforehand, all of it paid off.

“The remaining tickets, which was most of them, bought out in seconds.”

Wing Fest was a roaring success and, having turned revenue in its first yr, one thing Thacker was eager to scale up rapidly.

By yr three, the ticket sale settlement meant the enterprise had money circulate as quickly as tickets went on sale, which coated all pre-event manufacturing prices.

Nonetheless, as demand grew, the soar from 300 (yr one), to 1000 (yr two), to 2000 (yr three) folks began exposing cracks in Thacker’s ability set.

“When you begin attending to that quantity of individuals, it’s a completely completely different degree of occasion planning and, though not rocket science, in case you don’t have the expertise or sources issues get missed,” he says.

As an alternative of in search of funding, Thacker selected to associate with skilled sport and competition producers Gorilla Occasions to fill the cracks.

“With out them, Wing Fest wouldn’t have been capable of develop. Dan [Baxter, MD of Gorilla Events] and his group have the expertise, abilities and sources to accommodate the shopper demand and ticket sale progress throughout a number of Wing Fest areas.”

After flinging wings to 10,000 festival-goers at London’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in yr 5, Wing Fest Manchester and Bristol adopted, racking up a nationwide buyer base of over 20,000 folks by yr eight.

“Promoting and advertising and marketing Wing Fest is a full-time job, as is the manufacturing and planning,” says Thacker. “The construct and break down of the occasions additionally require a big skilled group, in addition to over 100 employees on the occasion days themselves.

“I had entry to none of those sources earlier than, so the partnership additionally opened doorways to bigger venues and suppliers and how one can work with them. Gorilla Occasions had lengthy standing relationships with suppliers which aided money circulate and manufacturing prices.”

When Covid-19 struck the UK in 2020, nonetheless, neither occasion was protected. All occasions must be cancelled,

“That was a reasonably heart-breaking second,” he admits, “however we’re actually lucky that we’ve got very supportive prospects.”

When given the choice, 50% of those that had already bought tickets opted to roll their tickets over to 2021, and one other 30% exchanged their ticket for a Swag Field so they may have a bit of slice of Wing Fest at dwelling throughout lockdown.

“On the level of cancellation, we had already pulled the set off on a number of prices that we had been unable to recoup, so the enterprise positively took successful in 2020/2021.”

And whereas the flagship occasion, London Wing Fest, had bought out over lockdown, frequently prolonged lockdowns meant he had no thought if and when it would have the ability to go forward.

“After a really tense and nail-biting few weeks, it was ultimately lifted 5 days earlier than the occasion was as a result of happen. We had been subsequently one of many solely massive occasions to happen on the primary weekend everybody got here out of lockdown and folks went wild! We had been very fortunate.”

Significantly as a result of, because of the usual and degree of manufacturing growing so dramatically through the years, break-even factors are a lot greater.

“It makes going into a brand new location much more dangerous,” he says. “Each time we launch in a brand new metropolis, it’s primarily like launching a brand new enterprise and needs to be thought of fastidiously. All of the occasions get handled as standalone actions to verify they’re doing what they’re meant to do, however you don’t get a second likelihood or the chance to open your doorways and construct traction such as you do with a restaurant.”

This yr Wing Fest will develop into its fourth and fifth UK areas, Birmingham, in collaboration with Digbeth Eating Membership (incubators of many unbelievable meals merchants which have gone on to determine bricks and mortar websites), and Derby, in a bid to host smaller occasions in food-loving cities.

“Wing Fest has all the time been about placing all merchants on a degree taking part in discipline, and offering the chance for anybody to be recognised for the standard of their wings.”

Since its launch, these merchants have been invited to compete in style exams to have their hen wing creations topped Finest Buffalo Wing or Finest Wild Wing (with a Folks’s Alternative Award and Decide’s Alternative Award).

Subsequent Wing Fest winners have change into so in style of their native areas they’ve usually outgrown their road meals commerce. Merchants corresponding to Wingmans, Thunderbird and Rooster George, amongst others, have even gone on to open profitable standalone eating places.

“By 2019 demand for areas was so excessive we needed to begin visiting as a lot of people who had utilized as doable to pattern their wings to see in the event that they hit the usual earlier than we invite them!” says Thacker.

“This has helped push the standard of wings within the UK undergo the roof. They’re not off-cuts however at the moment are revered works of culinary artwork that showcase all kinds of types, flavours and visually beautiful ideas. I’ve eaten wings everywhere in the world, in lots of main cities, however the London wing scene is by far the very best on the earth.”

In complete, 45,000 folks can be served wings from 80 completely different eating places, road meals merchants, pop-ups and BBQ groups at this yr’s Wing Fest occasions

“Hopefully the UK’s love of meals and showcasing it on this method continues.

“Meat consumption as a complete is on the lower, however hen consumption is quickly growing, so hopefully this implies there’s a area for a number of extra Wing Fest in years to come back!”