Midwest Communications
Peoria, Ill — It isn’t a “turkey shortage”.
That’s what we keep hearing from stakeholders in ag business as shoppers rush to get Thanksgiving meal plans ready for this year’s holiday.
Trey Malone, an agricultural economist at Michigan State University told VOX, “It’s not because there’s no turkeys, it’s that the turkeys are in the wrong places at the wrong time.”
And it’s partially the result of an all too familiar problem facing businesses across a wide range of industries.
Peoria-based Alwan & Sons Meat Company Co-owner and Vice President Brian Alwan tells us meat producers can’t find the workers they need to process every type of meat.
And with the Thanksgiving holiday approaching, meat producers have, as a result, turned the lion’s share of their workforce to producing as many whole turkeys as possible.
“So they’re focusing all of their labor on getting all of the turkeys processed, packed and out to the warehouses.”
Another challenge facing the supply chain for holiday meat is what’s termed, in economics, as the “bullwhip effect”. That’s when producers are simply guessing what the demand for their product might be — and, at times, guessing wrong.
Alwan says, for his Central Illinois business, this has all resulted in a shortage of, not turkeys, but turkey fixin’s.
“Just legs, just wings, just turkey necks or gizzards or livers or any of that stuff that makes the dressings, gravy and stuffing..we’re having a really difficult time…”, he says.
That’s the main takeaway for folks who prefer to buy their turkeys fresh.
The takeaway for most frozen turkey shoppers is you will likely find a decent turkey for your Thanksgiving gathering, but it will be noticeably more expensive and you may have to settle for a turkey you wouldn’t otherwise want, similar to Thanksgiving 2020.
“Go out to the stores and get them as early as you can,” Butterball CEO Jay Jandrain told Fox Business.
Shoppers might also notice it’s harder to find smaller turkeys.
It’s due to the fact more families are expected to hold smaller Thanksgiving gatherings, again triggered by some of them following stricter COVID-19 rules.
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