Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski /
Brian Baum, Shiloh Hicks and Sandy Lightner load a shopping cart of frozen turkeys bound for the Imler’s Poultry Outlet Store on Friday afternoon.
It takes months of preparation to get ready for the Thanksgiving season at Imler’s Poultry of Duncansville.
“We start planning and ordering frozen product in late February each year. This product arrives to us in mid to late September. The fresh product arrives to us approximately two weeks before the holiday,” said Imler’s turkey buyer Marshall Detwiler.
Imler’s starts receiving orders for Thanksgiving turkeys in September and over the holiday period will distribute 55,000 turkeys — 25,000 fresh and 30,000 frozen — throughout Pennsylvania and parts of New York, Ohio, Maryland and West Virginia, Detwiler said.
Imler’s gets turkeys from locations in Ohio, North Carolina, the midwest and Pennsylvania, including Jaindl Turkey Farm in Orefield.
Detwiler said the most popular sizes Imler’s sells are 14-16 and 16-20 pounds.
“This size range seems to fit best for the family meal without lots of leftovers,” Detwiler said.
Detwiler said Imler’s has a good supply of turkeys and can get more if needed.
Meanwhile, Hidden Hollow Turkeys of Woodbury is a relatively new player in holiday turkey production.
“We grow our own turkeys on the farm. We have about 6,000 turkeys for the Thanksgiving season,” owner Nathan Hursh said. “We are a fairly new startup here, but I’ve been raising turkeys for several years. This is the first year we are doing our own processing for Thanksgiving.”
Hidden Hollow Turkeys is a wholesaler.
“You can purchase our turkeys through places like Village Pantry in Tyrone, Rolls Meat Market in Altoona, Garman Seafood in Woodbury and other locations between Lewistown and Pittsburgh,” Hursh said.
Hursh said his biggest sellers are 14 to 22 pounds and he specializes in fresh turkeys.
“We push fresh turkeys, we don’t freeze the birds. We process close to Thanksgiving, they are much more tender turkeys,” Hursh said. “We are careful with antibiotics, we make sure our birds are antibiotic free. We give a lot of attention to the health of the birds.”
The Thanksgiving holiday creates some extra business for local supermarkets.
“This year we will sell 80 tractor trailer loads of turkeys over the Thanksgiving holiday. The most popular size turkeys are 10-14 pounds fresh and 18-22 pounds frozen. The vast majority of the turkeys we sell are frozen since they are an excellent value. Our peak period for turkey sales starts ten days before Thanksgiving,” said Dennis Curtin, Weis Markets spokesman.
The Giant Company, which operates Martin’s Food Markets in the Altoona area, would not disclose how many turkeys it sells for the holiday, but spokeswoman Ashley Flower said they sell more frozen turkeys than fresh and the most popular sizes are 10 to 16 pounds.
Meanwhile, options are available for those who don’t wish to cook their Thanksgiving dinner.
The Giant Company is offering a new value meal, complete with turkey and sides for six people, for under $20. From now through Nov. 28, members of Giant Choice Rewards can redeem 400 Choice points for a free turkey and round out their meal by shopping Extended Bonus Buys for items like vegetables, gravy and stuffing.
“Our customers count on us to help them provide the best meals at the best value for their families and friends throughout the year, and Thanksgiving is no exception,” said John MacDonald, vice president of marketing for The Giant Company. “With our new Thanksgiving offering, our customers can put the whole meal, from the main dish to their favorite sides, on the table for less than $20.”
The following items are included in the Thanksgiving value meal, which is available both in-store and for pickup: free turkey, 400 Choice Points; Stove Top Stuffing, 6 oz., $2; Heinz Gravy, 12 oz. jar, $2.50; Giant Brand Brown and Serve Rolls, 12 ct., $2.50/each; Giant Brand Sides – 2 (mashed potatoes and macaroni and cheese; any combination), 24 oz. package, $2.99/each; Giant Brand canned vegetable (assorted flavors), 14.5 oz. can, 5/$3; Giant Brand Cranberry Sauce, 14 oz. can, $1/each; and Sweet Potatoes, $0.69/lb.
The DelGrosso Family of Companies is offering a Thanksgiving special.
“In 2018 after a summer of rain, the DelGrosso Family needed to come up with ways to generate some new revenue streams and that was the year DG2Go Meals was born. As we started the weekly meals we got lots of great feedback from our customers and branched that off into holiday offerings as well,” spokeswoman Amy Mearkle said. “The Thanksgiving Meal Kits became popular because it saves people time and money. They don’t have to shop and then prepare the foods. This gives them an option to heat up the food and spend more time with family.”
The DG2Go Thanksgiving Meal Kit includes: turkey, baked ham in pineapple glaze, mashed potatoes, glazed carrots, homemade stuffing, gravy, rolls and butter, cranberry sauce and pumpkin roll.
Murf’s famous potato salad, homemade Italian sausage and homemade stuffing are available separately.
“The DelGrosso Family takes great pride in providing quality food in all of our businesses, and Thanksgiving follows suit with delicious food at a good price. Each year we take a look at all of our DG2Go food offerings and the ones that do well we keep bringing them back and make changes where we need to,” Mearkle said.
Mirror Staff Writer Walt Frank is at 814-946-7467.
