Butterball CEO Not Worried Chicken replaces Thanksgiving turkey

In an appearance on Neal Cavuto’s Fox Business show, Cavuto: coast to coast, Jay Jandrain, CEO of Butterball, made it clear that his company is not much affected by higher turkey prices.

Jandrain told Cavuto that his company expects “everyone who wants a turkey will get one this year.” His claim comes after the New York Post reported that some customers are responding to a rise in turkey prices by cooking chicken this Thanksgiving.

“We actually shipped more product this year than we did last year,” Jandrain said. should be able to get exactly what they are looking for.”

According to Jandrain, 85% of people who responded to Butterball surveys get turkey for Thanksgiving. The CEO said he has “seen no data at all on replacing turkey with chicken”.

It may be understandable if some consumers opt for alternative poultry choices this holiday season. Compared to the fourth quarter of 2021, turkey prices rose by no less than 23%, butter by 25.8% and flour by 17.1%. Eggs are also more expensive this year, up 32.5%, thanks to the same avian flu outbreak that impacted turkey costs.

Jandrain said Butterball has been working to keep rising costs confined to business operations rather than passing them on to consumers. “Because of the way our business is set up,” he said, “we supply the feed to our farmers who raise turkeys for us, so we know all too well how expensive that is and the impact it has on the costs of the Product.”

While Thanksgiving chicken is so common there is plenty recipes found online, it seems that turkey traditions are still safe. The holidays are just around the corner, but anyone looking for alternative mains to either fowl can find a range – from salmon to lasagna – on the New York Times vacation cooking page.