Let's be clear: Thanksgiving has never been about health. Sure, there has been an increase in demand for free-range or organic ingredients. And there are athletic events scheduled around it - like local 'Turkey Trot' 5K races and touch football games - but the commentary usually focuses on offsetting the ensuing gluttony - and the inevitable injuries to out-of-shape participants shamed by family into unwise exertions.
On the economic front, the rising cost of food has led to a not unsurprising decline in sales, causing grocers and food retailers to employ the symbol of Thanksgiving - the holiday turkey - as a kind of comestible carnival barker.
Yes, the turkey is being employed as a loss leader lure to encourage financially straitened families into buying higher margin - and even higher calorie - products like sauces, pies and the collateral detritus of the holiday experience. The aptly named Butterball and its frozen but ready-for-the-oven brethren are being deeply discounted this year, as elements of our society elevate commercialization to near-religious status.
So, kick back, have seconds - and thirds - but in that post-prandial torpor, give some thought to what we are celebrating and why. Happy Thanksgiving. JL
Barney Jopson reports in the Financial Times:
“Turkey wars” have broken out among anxious US grocers as they sell Thanksgiving birds at deep discounts – in spite of record high wholesale prices – to woo cash-strapped shoppers.
Some stores are selling frozen turkeys for as little as 47 cents per pound, while the benchmark wholesale price currently stands at an all-time high of $1.19 per pound, according to Urner Barry, a commodity research group.
“There are tremendous turkey wars,” said Meredith Adler, senior analyst at Barclays Capital, ahead of Thanksgiving on Thursday. “Most [supermarkets] do not make money on turkeys. They make money on everything else.”
Loss-leading turkeys reflect the anxious spirit of a holiday season in which budgets are tight, consumer sentiment is fragile and many retailers have decided to sacrifice profits in order to defend their market share.
Holiday shopping officially begins when stores unveil “door buster” discounts on gift items on the day after Thanksgiving, known as Black Friday, but retailers’ angst over attracting shoppers has led many to bring their opening times forward.
Supervalu is selling frozen turkeys at between 47 and 49 cents per pound at its Albertsons, Jewel-Osco, Shaw’s and Cub Foods stores across the US.
On the east coast, Food Basics is selling frozen turkeys at 48 cents per pound while A&P is selling them at 49 cents per pound, according to a survey by the US Department of Agriculture.
John Anderson, senior economist at the American Farm Bureau Federation, said: “What you’re seeing are some really aggressive promotions. You want to get those last-minute shoppers in the door and there’s no better loss-leader than a turkey. You make your money on the sweet potato, the pumpkin pie and the cranberry sauce.”
Turkeys are being given away free to consumers at ShopRite who have spent $300 at the chain since mid-October. At King Kullen, they are available for 29 cents per pound to shoppers who spend more than $50.
The wholesale price of $1.19 per pound compares with $1.09 this time last year and 87 cents in 2009.
Russ Whitman, vice president of poultry for Urner Barry, said prices had been driven up by the higher cost of corn feed and fuel as well as supply constraints, after turkey producers slashed capacity having overexpanded in 2008.
Mr Whitman said he had seen more intense turkey wars, noting that this year Walmart, the mass market discounter, had been less aggressive than previously.
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