Queuing up for quality
Queuing up for quality
Planning and monitoring is
crucial when batch-producing
turkeys to sell on one day and
the military-style operation
begins in the spring.
Hannah Velten reports
FOR many, Christmas would not be complete without the turkey lunch and the market is good for slow-growing quality birds for the special day, says one Surrey-based turkey and beef producer.
Stephen Conisbee can hardly bear to eat turkey on Christmas Day after spending four weeks processing 5200 birds for wholesale, catering and retail customers. And he and his family are exhausted.
On Christmas Eve the public collect 1500 pre-ordered turkeys from his Barracks Farm, Leatherhead, and the 240-year-old, family-run butcher shop in nearby East Horsley. "People start queuing outside the shop at 5.30am, with their thermos and newspaper," says Mr Conisbee.
"You have got to like people, and have a sense of humour, when direct selling, and striking up conversation with them builds a rapport likely to result in repeat orders. And do not alienate them from the farm. We are selling the whole farm-fresh, family-farm image, not just turkeys," he adds.
Pay a premium
The public are willing to pay a premium for a special Christmas bird rather than buying the usual quick-grown and cheap Italian imports that flood supermarket shelves. The most popular bird, the Wold, is a family-size turkey at 6.8kg, costing about £14 to produce and selling at £35, says Mr Conisbee.
Turkey production at Barracks Farm begins during May and July, when six batches of one-day old poults are delivered to the farm. Different breeds of turkey are used to cater for a range of weight requirements, so all reach mature weight, rather than being killed when immature, he says.
Poults are placed under brooders. Lighting, temperature and ventilation is controlled to mimic their natural brooding environment and they are fed an ad-lib complete turkey feed.
"Because of temperature fluctuations during spring, turkey poults are likely to peck each other. We put marbles into the pens, put up pendulum feeders containing wheat or oats to distract them and next year we will try hanging CDs up for them to peck at."
At 4-5 weeks old poults are moved into the main sheds, which also house the 100-head suckler herd after Dec 16. Turkeys have straw to scratch in and bales to stand on and peck at, he adds.
"Our birds are grown slowly, taking 20-26 weeks to mature which gives the meat a full flavour. No growth promoters are used.
"Birds collected on Christmas Eve are slaughtered by electrocution, bled and plucked on-farm from Dec 1-16. They are then hung in refrigerators for up to three weeks, to further increase flavour.
"By Dec 18 all birds will be gutted, finished and trussed ready for collection."
Most birds are sold whole, but the Conisbees cater to customer demands by offering a selection of pre-stuffed, cooked, boned and turkey cuts. "It pays to be as flexible as possible because most sales are made on recomendation. And basically, a turkey after Christmas is worth nothing, unless it is frozen and sold in the shop."
Turkey sales have to be estimated in the spring, when poults are ordered. Although the Conisbees could sell many more turkeys, they are hindered by red tape, labour shortages and lack of building space.
"My father, Neil, was producing about 20,000 turkeys a year for the all-year-round market 40 years ago, until Italian imports hit trade. Now you need an EU licence to produce over 10,000 birds and casual labour is becoming harder to find," he says.
Fortunately, Barracks Farm turkeys are well-known locally and because of the number of Americans living in the area, there is also a Thanksgiving market. There is an advertising board at the farmgate, but this has caused trouble in the past with thieves believing this to be an open invitation.
Lucy Conisbee says the best and cheapest advertising is putting cards up at local Post Offices. "One year a wholesaler we were supplying with 2000 birds went out of business, so we had to sell them somehow. I put a card in the Post Office advertising farm-fresh turkeys and we sold them all," she says.
One word of warning though. "Do not oversell your turkeys. Take any repeat/early orders and work out numbers and weights of turkeys left before you open the market to the public. If you take orders and cant fulfil them on Christmas Eve, people will never forgive you," warns Mr Conisbee.
When people order their turkey a phone number is taken, but not a deposit, although Mr Conisbee would advise doing so. Turkey collection is a festive affair, with decorations, carol singing and mince pies.
Meet and greet
"People enjoy collecting their turkey as part of the run up to Christmas, so take time to meet and greet them on to the farm – it will be to the business advantage," he says.
Turkeys are packed into carrier bags, along with recipe cards provided by the NFU Turkey Committee and leaflets advertising the butchers shop – F Conisbee and Sons.
But Christmas Day can be disturbed by people wanting their turkey cut up to fit the oven or to replace the one they have burnt. "After Christmas, I would rather eat goose at New Year," he adds. *
The public are willing to pay for a farm-fresh Christmas turkey. But if you cannot fulfil orders, they will never forgive you, say the Conisbees.
DIRECT SELLING
• Like people.
• Advertise, but do not over-sell.
• Offer consistent, quality meat.