GROCERS HOPE TREND TO EAT MORE TURKEY CONTINUES

Americans' love for turkey, especially at Thanksgiving and the holidays, has increased over the years, and local grocers hope the trend continues.

More than 90 percent of Americans surveyed by the National Turkey Federation said they eat turkey at Thanksgiving.

Nearly half of the turkey eaten each year is at Thanksgiving, and that's why local grocers have turkey specials at this time of year.

Those specials include selling whole turkeys at 29 cents a pound if the customer purchases $50 worth of groceries at Schnucks. Other stores have similar specials based on the amount of groceries purchased.

For example, at Mr. K's Food Center, a new store in the area, if customers buy $100 worth of groceries, Mr. K's will give them a free turkey of any weight.

Mr. K's manager Bob Schade says that basically stores lose on turkey prices and try to bring people into the store with the low turkey prices.

Costwise, he said, the price of turkeys has not fluctuated much.

Schnucks manager Dennis Marchi said the wholesale price of turkeys is between 60 and 70 cents a pound, adding that the supply of turkeys is good this year.

The past two years there have been rain and heat problems that have affected the turkey supply.

Missouri is one of the leading suppliers of turkeys, and this year the state is expected to produce 30 million turkeys.

Last year, the state ranked fifth nationally in turkey production.

In 1996 it ranked third in states in cash receipts from turkeys.

Jeff Firman, a turkey researcher at the University of Missouri, said more Missouri turkeys than usual will be eaten for Thanksgiving.

He said a disease called poultry early mortality syndrome has hit North Carolina turkeys, decreasing national production by 20 million turkeys. North Carolina normally produces 65 million birds a year and is the largest producer in the nation.

It is estimated that 45 million turkeys are sold for Thanksgiving.

Schade said that during the holidays it's normal to sell the turkeys for below cost.

The concept is called "loss leader" and simply means retailers run low prices on turkeys to lure customers into their stores to purchase other holiday items for the turkey dinner.

The American Farm Bureau Federation reported in 1996 that an average turkey dinner for 10 people cost $31.66 in 1996. That dinner included the turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, peas, rolls and butter, cranberries, a relish dish, pumpkin pie with whipped cream and beverage.

Because Mr. K's is in a new market, Schade said he hopes to gain the trust and loyalty of customers with the low turkey prices.

Grocers are also trying to meet the customers' trends in purchasing turkeys.

Marchi said in the past years the family size has become smaller, and the change is reflected in the size of turkeys being bought.

In the past, customers bought the larger turkeys, between 18 and 20 pounds. Now more people are buying the 12- to 14-pound turkeys, Marchi said.

The 18- to 20-pound turkey is still a staple, but Marchi can see a trend toward smaller turkeys.

Another trend Marchi sees is that more people are buying turkey breasts rather than the whole turkey. There isn't the waste that a whole turkey makes, and most people eat the breast meat only.

Then, he said, there is a trend toward fresh turkeys rather than frozen turkeys.

Fresh turkeys have to be eaten closer to the time of purchase. Frozen turkeys can be kept longer and cost less than fresh turkeys.

Schade explained that some frozen turkeys take three to four days to thaw, and customers don't want to spend the time thawing the turkey.

Nationally, 60 percent of those surveyed said they bought a frozen turkey for Thanksgiving, while 40 percent purchased a fresh turkey.

A fresh turkey is one that is never chilled below 26 degrees while a frozen turkey is chilled to zero degrees or below.

Another trend, reflecting the busy schedules of families, is to have the grocery store make the turkey dinner for the customer.

Most area stores also sell hot or prepared turkey dinners to serve eight or 10 people.

At Schnucks, a cooked 8- to 10-pound turkey, with 2 pounds of dressing, 24 ounces of cranberry gelatin mold and 12 brown and serve rolls is a meal to serve eight people for $19.99.

At Mr. K's, the meal costs $32.99 and adds 2 pounds of potatoes and a pound of gravy.

Other stores have their own take-out Thanksgiving meal deals.

Schade said people can pick up their meals until 1 p.m. Thursday.

He said he might be one of those taking advantage of his store's dinner for his family's Thanksgiving.