Turkey market feels pre-Christmas pinch

At Chater Meat Market in Dartmouth, the owner has noticed a trend when it comes to ordering turkeys.

"If I order 100 cases, I am lucky if they give me 40 or 50 cases," said George Chater, who added he deals with multiple suppliers and he has been hearing a variety of reasons. "One minute they are short on labour to kill turkeys. Some of them do not have enough. It's hard to say."

Turkey Farmers Nova Scotia chairman Steven Eadie would rather not frame the situation as a shortage. However, he said there are pressure points affecting the industry.

"It's just a challenge relative to find what you want, where you want it and when you want it," said Eadie, who also pointed out COVID-19 and restrictions over the past year and a half are contributing factors. "It takes up to nine months to plan what we need for turkey. So basically, we are in December and we had to look at spring to plan what is predicted for Christmas."

Eadie said the size of turkeys available is a bigger concern, compared to the overall supply.

"What we grow here in Nova Scotia is mainly a six kilogram bird, which when it gets to the store is roughly 10 or 11 pounds."

Shoppers who want bigger birds will need to wait longer, given larger turkeys ship from out of province, thus causing some delays in delivery and an impact in prices.

One shopper has a possible solution.

"Normally we would eat duck. That’s kind of our tradition,” said Sandy Gribbin.

Eadie said consumers might need to re-calibrate their Christmas dinner strategies.

"Just don't think of the whole turkey," said Eadie. "You can buy it in different forms, like a turkey roast or turkey parts."

Eadie also wants people to buy more turkeys year-round to help grow the industry, which would improve turkey inventory going forward.