Missouri Grocers Say No Shortage of Turkeys This Holiday Season
(Missourinet) – With a recent warning from the Missouri Department of Conservation about avian influenza, questions have surfaced about its impact on Missouri’s turkey supply.
But the turkey supply is strong in Missouri grocery stores leading up to Thanksgiving. So says Dan Shaul, Executive Director of the Missouri Grocers Association. He says shoppers should be able to find what they need.
“If they go out now and look, there’s plenty of bargains out there for anything from the stuffing to the French onion straws, the turkeys as well. As you know, there’ll be a lot more sales on turkeys, but as of right now, it looks to be a good turkey season for us.”
Turkey prices are up sharply this year, averaging about two dollars and five cents per pound compared to one dollar and 64 cents per pound last year, according to the USDA.
With Thanksgiving still over two weeks away, when is the right time to get the best deal on a turkey? Shaul says, “Well, I’d certainly not wait until two days before because then you have to figure out how to thaw it if it’s a frozen turkey. So go to your store and look around and see what’s there. Talk to the people in the store. Tell them what you’re looking for and they might be able to tell you, hey, today would be a great day to buy it, or maybe next week might actually be a better day to buy.
“We’ve seen our shoppers be very resourceful. But they pretty much know what’s going on. They’ll make sure that they have a turkey, if that’s what they want, they will be available. I don’t see us having a mass shortage of those.”
Experts say frozen turkeys can be stored for months, but fresh birds should be purchased just days before cooking. Thawing requires careful planning—about 24 hours per four to five pounds in the refrigerator or 30 minutes per pound in cold water.
Dan Shaul, Executive Director of the Missouri Grocers Association, says this year’s supply remains strong.
The USDA is not forecasting an outright shortage for Missouri or nationally but warns that supplies are tighter and prices are significantly higher due to disease losses and increased feed costs.