Free range turkey in demand despite credit crunch

Despite the fact most people in a recent survey claim they would be eating a free range or organic turkey this Christmas, it’s possible that there might not be enough for sale on the shelves to satisfy demand.

Earlier this week, Farmers Weekly Interactive reported a survey which claimed a whopping 86 er cent of those polled would be forking out for premium birds.

And I’m told that supermarket buyers have been caught on the hop believing that Britons would be having credit crunch Christmas lunches and turning their back on the more expensive poultry.

One turkey farmer in the north east of England told me that buyers have taken to ringing round organic and free range farmers across the UK to buy up any birds left over after failing to put in sufficient orders when the hatching began at the start of the year.

The survey of 1,791 was carried out by Goldenriverfarms.co.uk and its findings welcomed by a spokeswoman for ChickenOut, the campaign to promote free-range and organic poultry production.

“Obviously, in the present climate a big concern is people cutting back on their spending and considering free-range or organic to be too expensive” she said.

While the average price difference between an organic turkey and a standard turkey is between £15 and £20, the survey results suggest this is a price most are willing to pay. Of those asked, 62% only buy organic meat all year round, the remaining 24% are prepared to spend the difference at Christmas, but not throughout the year.

What do you think? Is the higher price worth it?