Consumers are being urged to buy large turkeys – which are suffering a slump in demand due to smaller festive gatherings – in order to avoid a glut of Christmas birds going to waste.
Research from the Too Good to Go national food waste app reveals 30% of Britons are planning to buy a smaller turkey than normal, with two-thirds opting for compact and easy-to-carve turkey crowns for their Christmas table. Only 17% of shoppers are planning to buy larger birds, the research found, raising fears that many fresh birds could remain unsold.
In a drive to get consumers to sharpen up their butchery skills, the app has teamed up with award-winning butchers Farmison & Co to produce a 15-minute turkey tutorial. This shows consumers how to cut up a large, raw, whole bird for smaller gatherings on Christmas Day, leaving plenty to freeze and cook in the new year but with no waste.
This year, just over half of UK households (54%), or an estimated 27.8m, said they were planning to eat turkey on Christmas Day, the research found. About 9 million British turkeys are reared each year for Christmas, and Britons traditionally plump for a 6kg to 7kg bird, which can feed as many as 10 people and still leave plenty over for a Boxing Day buffet and traditional turkey sandwiches.
Jamie Crummie, the co-founder of Too Good To Go, said turkey was not just for Christmas. “With smaller gatherings expected this Christmas, it’s perhaps unsurprising that turkey crowns are the most popular size. But there is no reason why larger turkeys should be wasted this festive season. Learning how to butcher and portion up a larger bird at home can still give you the smaller crown portion for roasting on Christmas Day, while leaving plenty of meat – legs and wings etc – to freeze and enjoy later in 2021.”
With varying lockdown restrictions forcing smaller festive gatherings, farmers have been finding it difficult to predict consumer demand, warning that larger birds would be out of favour.
Paul Kelly, the managing director of Chelmsford-based Kelly Turkeys, a family business supplying premium whole birds, said he had sold out of smaller turkeys by the end of October, adding: “What’s changed is that demand is massively higher than normal due to everyone having Christmas at home.”
Nick Coleman, Waitrose’s turkey buyer, said: “The uncertain nature of this year has certainly influenced the way our customers are planning to shop this Christmas. We have seen the trend for smaller turkey joints growing in popularity for several years, but this has increased much more this year with our smaller birds and crowns up over 200%.”
Frozen food specialist Iceland brought forward the launch of its frozen Christmas turkeys in store to October, while Waitrose reported sales of frozen turkeys up 316% the week before last as shoppers started filling their freezers for the big day.
