How Much Do turkey farmers make per turkey?

[DawnCt1]

Are supermarkets selling turkeys at a huge loss, or are they that "cheap". I had one supermarket 'coin' (big Y) for $10 off a turkey. Then I had a coupon for one turkey for $.19 and another for $.29 per pound. That's less than $3. per turkey. Does anyone know what turkey farmers are getting for turkeys?
I will bet that a turkey eats more in corn than what they are sold for at the supermarkets during Thanksgiving.

 

[C.Ann]

Good question.. My dad used to go and get ours fresh from the turkey farm, but I have no idea what he paid..

I'm sitting here looking at an ad for .29 a lb. - and as you have said, some places are running specials even lower than that!

 

[disney1990]

Personally, I think that stores take a loss on their turkey sales to get people to come in to buy the rest of their Thanksgiving meals. Every time one store lowers the price of Turkey, another one comes and beats that price. I don't think it has anything to do with how much they actually paid for the turkey.

 

[C.Ann]

Personally, I think that stores take a loss on their turkey sales to get people to come in to buy the rest of their Thanksgiving meals. Every time one store lowers the price of Turkey, another one comes and beats that price. I don't think it has anything to do with how much they actually paid for the turkey.

Ha! You're right - and I should have known that because my late DH was in supermarket management for 38 years.. They're called "loss leaders" - and they make up the difference on all the other Thanksgiving items..

Yikes - I can hear him screaming in my ear right now!!

 

[Tinker'n'Fun]

When I worked for the accounting dept of a major chain in our area one of my weekly jobs was to create a spreadsheet of the loss leaders each week...

Turkey at Thanksgiving and Prime Rib and Ham at Christmas were ALWAYS on the list.

 

[Tony-NJ]

I guess you could also consider the source of the turkey. We got a "discounted fresh butterball at 1.19 per lb for spending a certain amount of money. The actual price was $1.89 per lb. this will be frozen until after the holidays. We bought a Bell & Evans fresh turkey from teh butcher wich is costing $3.89 per lb. So we will be spending $15 for one and over $80 for another. I have a feeling the butcher is making a profit on the B&E.

 

[disney1990]

Yep, lots of descriptions on Google for Loss Leaders.

 

[Mr. Pig]

I don't know about the turkey ranchers but I do know about the stores. Supermarkets usually lose money on turkeys at Thanksgiving. It is a big purchase that may make a shopper decide where they will do the rest of the holiday shopping. They are a very focal "loss leader". They may run specials like .38 or .48 per lb. with other purchase and the store probably pays .69 per lb. for the turkeys.