Poultry: Control your Christmas

1 Market the fact that you are selling turkey. This might sound obvious, and the fact so many birds come in at this time of year might make you want to minimise the disruption, but this is a great time to help the bottom line. Take advantage of the fact that people actively want to visit a butcher's at Christmas and that you can offer great service. Robin Bevan, owner of Bevan's Butchers in Kingston-upon-Thames says he "puts a lot into handing out" promotional leaflets and booklets prior to Christmas. He also holds tasting days to encourage other products, such as breast roasts, which are becoming increasingly popular. Last year, Robin sold 250 breast roasts, compared to 600 turkeys, 100 chickens and 70 geese. And, as Paul Kelly, managing director of Kelly Turkeys says: "It isn't just the rearing environment that makes the traditional turkeys so different. The dry-plucking and maturing the bird for 10-14 days adds to the flavour and succulence and why not organise a special tasting evening to allow prospective customers to sample the delights?" You can show customers exactly why hanging turkeys for the 10-14 days makes sense they can taste it for themselves. Also, don't ignore boneless breast joints. According to Robin: "We're selling more and more of these. Fewer people are having whole turkeys to get away from the dark meat and the bones."

2. Sell on quality. The supermarkets can do the bargains, but an independent butcher should be about premium products that's what differentiates them, says Gary Evans, owner of Grimsby-based flavourings company g2seasonings. "It's about the fact you have the skill, passion and the time that supermarkets don't the magic ingredients." For example, Robin Bevan sells only free-range bronze from Copas, and got through 600 last year.

"Everyone wants to know how the animals are reared, where they come from and how long they've been aged," agrees Rod Adlington, managing director of Coventry-based processor Adlington. "Game-hanging does add to the price, but the feedback we have is very good. There's a thirst for knowledge, and butchers can respond to that." One final thing, however: don't forget to give the best service so people might use you at other times of the year. It is tempting to make wry, or even sarcastic comments about customers who only visit you at Christmas when, for most of the year, they shop in the local supermarket, but this is the time to make them think twice about where they shop. "Christmas is the one day of the year where most consumers trade up and will spend as much as they can possibly afford to buy the very best food for Christmas lunch," says Kelly. "Retail butchers see a big increase in trade at Christmas, as consumers' perception is that the butcher provides a better-quality meat. They need to live up to this to stand any chance of gaining a bigger slice of the other 51 weeks in the year."

3. Use Thanksgiving as a dry run. Taking place on the fourth Thursday in November, it is the perfect chance "to try things out, and iron out any problems in the system", says Derek Kelly, chairman of Kelly Turkeys. But do not take orders too early you will be thoroughly sick of Christmas otherwise and your customers will sense that. You might even be rude to some of them by accident! "Leave it as long as you can," says Jeff Gathergood, owner of Crown Butchers in Newbury, "otherwise you've had enough by November. Why prolong the agony?" he asks.

4. Do not work staff too hard in December and in the final week in particular, otherwise they will be too tired on the day and will make mistakes. Plan to have extra staff for the period, but do not overdo it or you will lose money to wages and have people bumping into each other. Also, encourage customers to come in on 23 December, so that all the work is not compressed into the 24th. "We tell people that we're closing at midday on Christmas Eve," says Jeff Gathergood, "even though that's not the case. But we don't want it all to be a rush at the last minute and then be working until late." Allow time to give the fridges a thorough wash for the after-Christmas period.

5. Get jobs that need not be left to the last week of December done early. Tie up beef early, vacuum-pack or dry-hang in plenty of time. You will be surprised at the amount of jobs that can be got out of the way, making life so much easier when it comes to the crunch week. "We're making sausages and chipolatas in plenty of time," says Jeff.

6. Do not write people's names on the turkey boxes. You will be rummaging around for ages to find the right one, "and chances are it will be the one that's at the bottom of the pile," says Jeff. "Instead, order them according to weight range and take one that fits the weight order of your customer."

7. Use the same supplier that you use all year-round. "Try to deal with the same people, so you know you'll be getting a consistent product, and make sure they'll absolutely be able to deal with the quantities you're looking for," says Robin. Give your final order as late as possible as well: "The supplier might complain, but you don't want to be left with birds that don't sell, and it's the same for him," says Jeff. Finally, do not let the supplier push you into sizes that you do not need. "They may want you to force the customer to get a bigger turkey," adds Jeff, "but don't put yourself in that situation. They know how many they'll be having for dinner, and let them order the right amount of meat."

8. Do not ignore duck and geese. "The traditional products are coming back in, and it's great to see," says Mark Dilloway, managing director of Stroud-based Severn Poultry. It is best, however, to warn people that although goose has great flavour, you do not get a huge amount from one bird. A small goose costs around £40 and only feeds three or four for dinner. "Goose is expensive and you get one meal out of it, then are left having to boil the rest up for soup. One lady said to me one year that it was hellishly expensive for what it was, so I warn them now," says Jeff. As for chicken, the larger sizes 14-15lb are harder to get these days, with a number of farmers who produced the particularly large hens having gone out of business in recent years. Wholesalers are far less likely to be able to find anything much more than 9lb now.

9. Fill the cabinet with sausages, stuffing and pies during the week up to Christmas not poultry. "Folks are looking for condiments and add-ons," says Robin. Add stollen cakes, biscuits, mints and stilton rounds including smaller-sized versions to attract add-on sales, plus some tinsel and a little decoration for a festive shop that people will want to enter at this time!10. Sell for the whole period, not just Christmas Day. Make sure that your customers are well-stocked with poultry products throughout the festive period and have plenty of ideas as to what to do with the left-over turkey. If consumers have eaten turkey at Christmas, then duck and goose can also provide a special meal to welcome in the New Year. Meanwhile, chicken is such a versatile and value-for-money option that it can either be used as the main roast at Christmas, be part of a three-bird roast or fill in the gaps during the whole of the festive period

A Look ahead

"We're upbeat and looking forward to the Christmas trade. We've started to specialise in single boxed turkeys this will be the second year of doing that. There seems to be more call for better presentation, for making things more special, rather than relying on simple wrap packaging. We also do multi-boxes, and a local chef has given us recipes that we've put on a card to go in the box with the turkey. One local farmer supplies us with 10,000 turkeys, which means we have full traceability. Then, on top of that, we have 5,000 smaller birds from Italy, plus Gressingham duck and geese, which form about 25% of our sales at Christmas. Chicken forms 35% of total sales, so there's still an important market there we use Highbury Poultry and we supply butchers and catering butchers within a 100-mile radius of where we're based, in Banbury, Oxfordshire so as far as Nottingham, Stoke, Bristol, Southampton, and up to the M25.

"There's a massive difference to our business at Christmas and we're expecting the same this year. People need some cheer with all this gloom around and they always tend to find the money at Christmas. It should help that the price hasn't gone up for the first time in many years. The whole chain does a very good job, and butchers need to make sure the public knows just how much care and love has gone into rearing the product. There has been a lot bad press about poultry in general, but at Christmas a lot of time and thought goes into making them."

Steve Harper, sales director, Tadmarton

Sales ratios

Dividing up the birds: a sales snapshot

Tadmarton

Turkey40%

Chicken35%

Goose/duck25%

Bevan's Butchers

Turkey59%

Turkey breast24%

Chicken10%

Goose7%

Crown Butchers

Turkey80%

Chickens15%

Goose5%

how IT was

"We used to go to a farm in Dorking on the evening of the first Saturday in December, then take them back to the shop in Reading, tie the legs up and hang them on ceiling rails the racks went all over the, back and down, totalling 90ft in length. The next day, we'd weigh the birds and label them according to order, pluck off some of the feathers on the neck and put them in the fridge. Then, on the Saturday before Christmas, we'd get all the staff in and do the eviscerating. In those days the Decembers were colder and the birds didn't deteriorate."

Jeff Gathergood, Crown Butchers, Newbury

how can butchers help?

"If you have disagreements at all, then you can bet your life it takes place around Christmas. It's a time of heightened anxiety between suppliers and customers. So firstly I'd say to any butcher, put your order in writing whether in an email or fax. Phoning is fine, but mistakes can be made in translation. When we have an order on paper, then we can study it and come back to you. The onus is then on us to contact our customer it becomes our problem. That stops drivers coming back to us with turkeys after deliveries with two or three days to go and our premises closing up, which can be a nightmare.

"Secondly, it's so much better if butchers use the ordering forms that we supply. It's so easy all they have to do is put in the quantities. There can also be confusion over terminology double breast, crown, saddle different items mean different things to people. If you have a problem with one item, then do call and we can sort that out rather than putting something that isn't clear on the form.

"We'd also far rather butchers got the order in early that they put an order in for 79 birds, and then came to us with an extra one or two at a later date, rather than waiting for that 80th order and sending us an order with very little time left.

"We supply around 400 butchers, and we tend to be the place where they come to top up their supplies. A lot of our orders are for 20 birds and it's unlikely that's all a butcher will sell. Say a farmer has 100 birds, and they're looking to sell 120, they'll then come to us for the extra 20. Plus they can add on gammon, ham, bacon pies, chutney, cakes, and cranberry all the other items that people want at Christmas. We take up the slack, and we're happy to do that."

Arthur Diaper, director, Diaper Poultry

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