Restrictions, confusion and trepidation tied to the coronavirus pandemic are causing uncertainty among traditional Thanksgiving dinner suppliers, including turkey farmers and grocery stores.
Surveys done by Kroger, the country’s largest grocery chain, show 43% of shoppers plan to spend the holiday only with immediate household members, but the company has purchased more turkeys than last year, CBS News reported.
Besides whole birds, Walmart is planning to have 30% more turkey breasts available than last year for diners who don’t want to cook an entire gobbler.
CBS quoted Avedano's Holly Park Market owner Angela Wilson in San Francisco as saying the restrictions on restaurant dining may keep more people at home, and thus she’s stocking up on smaller birds such as quail and game hens.
Farmers, too, have had to adjust.
Dede Boies at Root Down Farm in Pescadero, Calif., is guessing holiday revelers will want smaller birds. Since the turkeys she sells are born in May, she’s decided to harvest some of them early, which is a gamble since they gain fat and flavor in their final weeks.
By contrast, makers of the Butterball brand, which account for 30% of the 40 million turkeys consumed at Thanksgiving, say their surveys show 75% of consumers want the same size bird or bigger this year.
Butterball says half of the turkeys it sells will weigh from 10-16 pounds while the other half will be 16-24 pounds.
Mark Jordan, executive director of LEAP Market Analytics in Jonesboro, Ark., says the uncertainty will be hardest on grocers.
Selling turkeys at a discount will reduce profit, and keeping turkey prices high could leave grocers with a lot of unsold turkeys.
"I don't see many ways that they win this holiday season," Jordan said.
And then there’s Christmas.
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