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“Consumers don’t want tough and tasteless big chickens,” said Scott Sechler, owner of poultry producer Bell & Evans. There’s “increasing consumer demand for smaller, premium-quality birds.”

Chickens have been the most popular meat in America for a long time. More chicken is devoured in the U.S. than anywhere else in the world — an average of 93.5 pounds per person last year, according to the National Chicken Council. The birds have been getting progressively bigger over the years. Today’s broiler varieties, the ones raised for meat, average more than 6 pounds (2.7 kilograms) each. In 1925, they weighed 2.5 pounds.

So how did these fast-food chains so quickly find success with their chicken sandwiches? Birds lighter than 4.25 pounds.

Small Is Beautiful

The summer skirmish focused Big Chicken’s attention on the smaller and less plentiful variety. Breasts from wee birds recently reached triple the cost of breasts from a “jumbo” nine-pounder, a historically wide difference, according to Russ Whitman of commodity researcher Urner Barry.

When it comes to sandwiches, small is beautiful. Cutting up a bigger portion takes labour, and what does one do with the trim? Restaurants want product that comes ready to go at the right specifications, said David Maloni, executive vice president of analytics at supply-chain consultant ArrowStream.

“It’s getting harder and harder to get that” smaller bird, “so they’re paying a premium,” Maloni said. The fast-food chains won’t settle for bigger birds, he said.