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Turkeys not yet Janet Chan predicts there will be a long line at her Chinatown meat market-restaurant on Thanksgiving Day for her Chinese-style roast turkey.
gobbled up
Island stores had slow weekend
Why not raise your own?
turkey sales, but managers say
the rush will come todayBy Leila Fujimori
Star-BulletinThe birds are hung to roast in a huge oven and come with a special sauce of Chinese five-spice and garlic, like the roast duck sauce sold at Eastern Food Center, said Chan, who started taking orders yesterday.
After a week of so-so sales, some stores are expecting heavier demand starting today for turkey -- fresh, frozen or free-range.
Costco Salt Lake's sales manager, Robert Loomis, anticipates big sales today through Wednesday for the outlet's fresh turkey at 99 cents a pound.
"It's a big thing to keep in the fridge if you're not going to cook it till Wednesday or Thursday," Loomis said.
Promotional sales at Times and Foodland did not seem to stimulate lots of buyers during the weekend.
"Sales are brisk, but it's not a madhouse," said Reid Tokeshi, assistant manager at Times Super Market in Aiea. Customers could get frozen hens for $3 and toms for $5 with the store's ticket promotional sale.
At the Kaneohe Foodland, turkey sales seemed steady but slower this weekend than last year, despite a frozen-turkey sale price of 33 cents a pound with a $25 purchase, said assistant manager Dexter Magno.
But the store has received quite a few orders for precooked dinners of turkey, spiral-cut ham and prime rib, Magno said.
At Strawberry Connection, owner Becky Choy orders a few extra fresh, free-range turkeys, but always sells out.
Louise Simrell placed her order for a fresh, 25-pound free-range turkey Saturday. At $4.25 a pound, she will pay close to $110.
"Once you taste a free-range bird, you can never go back," the North Shore resident said. "I'd rather spend more and have a really good meal. It sort of becomes a present to everyone who's invited."
Simrell will serve the turkey to 11 lucky people on Thanksgiving, including her two grown sons and four British guests.
She said eating a free-range bird is like eating ground sirloin instead of a fast-food hamburger. "It's the flavor, moisture and the emotional security that you're putting something good into your body."
If you prefer island-fresh turkey for your Thanksgiving feast, two Oahu feed stores can help. Bring island flavor
to the table by raising
your own turkeysBy Leila Fujimori
Star-BulletinThe Feed Trough Inc. in Waialua and Kaneohe Farm Supplies bring in turkey chicks every spring to sell to people who raise and then slaughter them for the holiday table.
Royce Kadooka, owner of the Feed Trough, has been bringing in 50 chicks every year.
Kadooka said customers need the proper combination of turkey feed for the different development stages.
"There's an art to raising turkeys," she said.
Kadooka said she brings in a good strain of white Texas turkey chicks. For the first four to five days, she cares for them in a brooder, which maintains a temperature of 100 degrees.
"We've got it down to where we don't lose any," Kadooka said. "It's not hard once you know what you're doing."
Glen Yogi at Kaneohe Farm Supplies takes orders for about 200 turkey chicks from January to March. The store has been doing it for the last 35 years, and people from around the island phone in their orders.
"I used to raise turkeys and rent them out to hotels at Thanksgiving," Yogi said.
But turkeys can be troublemakers. In 1995 a turkey caused a fire that burned his store down.
"My whole store was gutted from the fire," Yogi said. "The turkey pecked at the wiring," shorting out the electrical system and sparking the fire.
Yogi said many Windward residents no longer raise poultry because of noise complaints. "Every year, it's getting slower for me," he said. He has had to turn to selling pet supplies.