Wing It On!® has earned its second consecutive first-place award at the 2023 National Buffalo Wing Festival held this past Labor Day weekend in Buffalo, New York. Delivering a knockout blow to competitors in the Traditional Medium Buffalo Sauce category, Wing It On! repeated as champs in what's considered the most coveted flavor category of the competition. In wing culture, Medium Buffalo Sauce is linked directly to the original Buffalo sauce recipe.
“We started from humble beginnings, busting our humps to make it in this highly competitive segment of the restaurant industry. Now, we proudly stand as America's number one Buffalo sauce for two years running,” said Matt Ensero, Founder and President of Wing It On! as well as the brand’s sauce creator. “We have shown that even a small competitor can take down giants in the wing segment.”
Leaning into its underdog spirit, which has led to a champion-driven mentality, Wing It On! triumphed over several legendary institutions including Anchor Bar, the restaurant that invented Buffalo sauce in 1964, to win the blind taste test for the Traditional Medium Buffalo Sauce category.
“This is HUGE and underscores why Wing It On! is designed to thrive! We're rewriting history, becoming the first and only wing chain to win the award for best Traditional Medium twice in a row at the National Buffalo Wing Festival in the very heartland of where Buffalo wings originate. Wing It On! isn’t just winning; we're redefining,” said Gregg Majewski, CEO and Founder of Craveworthy Brands, the parent company of Wing It On! “We’re leaving no doubt that Wing It On! is a serious contender in the wing restaurant game and is built for greatness. Franchise investors are taking notice of our differentiators, and now is the time to soar with us while whitespace is available in attractive franchise growth markets.”
WIO! is the official sponsor of the festival’s signature event, The Wing It On! U.S. Chicken Wing Eating Championship. Famed participants, including two-time defending champion Miki Sudo, newcomer James Webb and the current number-one ranked professional eater in the world, Joey Chestnut, faced off to eat as many wings as possible in 12 minutes. James Webb prevailed over Chestnut, eating a whopping 276 wings smothered in the nation's number-one-ranked sauce.