No need to spend days thawing

As tastes become more sophisticated, demand has increased for fresh turkeys for the holidays

Not so long ago, the centerpiece of the Thanksgiving meal started out like this: a frozen turkey so rock-solid that it took more than a day to thaw.

But the mass-produced, deep-freeze turkey is becoming a dying tradition in some households. Today, many families will opt instead for the original way of giving thanks -- eating a fresh bird.

Often bearing labels such as "natural," "free range" or "organic," these specialty turkeys can cost more than three times as much as conventional turkeys, and in the past had been available mainly at gourmet food markets.

Chances are, your neighborhood supermarket now offers fresh turkeys, sometimes even in several varieties. Customers whose palates have become accustomed to organic produce and free-range chicken, gourmet desserts and exotic breads are demanding premium turkeys for the holidays. And the large chains are obliging.

"If they stopped selling them, I would probably drive an hour or two hours to get one," said Clayton resident Patches Dowey while waiting in line Tuesday to pick up a fresh turkey at Whole Foods Market in Raleigh. "They're that good."

Dowey was one of dozens of shoppers who had placed a special order for their bird. The Whole Foods fresh turkeys are not injected with antibiotics, and they are fed a vegetarian diet with no meat byproducts. But the key to their fresh taste, customers said, is that the birds were never frozen.

A measure of the fresh turkey's popularity can be taken at Lowes Foods, a mainstream supermarket that has seen its fresh turkey sales increase by at least 10 percent a year for the past several years. The company now sells three brands labeled "fresh," including a fresh bird from Butterball -- a brand with a lock on the frozen turkey market.

Lowes, Kroger, Whole Foods and other grocery chains won't disclose their sales figures. Still, organic food was a $13.8 billion industry last year, more than double from five years earlier, according to the Organic Trade Association. To be sure, not all fresh, natural or even free-range turkeys are organic, a specific category that's regulated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The organic or all-natural turkey movement hasn't arrived in every grocery store. Food Lion don't sell them, because the company hasn't had sufficient customer demand. But Food Lion, the Triangle's largest grocery chain, is selling more fresh turkeys.

Kroger sells frozen and fresh all-natural turkeys and recently added organic frozen birds to its selection.

The turkey trend is setting off a chain reaction. As mainstream supermarkets offer fresh turkeys, the gourmet stores are moving up the purity scale and adding more varieties of organic and all-natural turkeys.

"Our organic sales are doubling every year, and that just blows my mind," said Duane Koch, the vice president and general manager of Koch Turkey Farms in Tamaqua, Pa., which sells birds to local Whole Foods stores. "We don't sell anything frozen anymore. We're going to start year-round production of organic turkey."

Koch's all-natural turkey sales are up 15 percent to 20 percent a year. And Whole Foods, Koch's biggest customer, is setting a new sales record for natural turkeys every year, said Teresa Jones, the company's marketing manager for the Carolinas.

A basic fresh turkey costs $1.99 a pound at Whole Foods, while an organic bird fetches $2.99 a pound. Fresh turkeys cost more because they can't be stored in a freezer and must be ready for slaughter just before the holidays, when demand surges. The cost of organic birds is driven up by organic feed, which must meet federal standards.

Whole Foods doesn't sell frozen turkeys, except the uncommon heirloom variety, a breed in limited organic production that resembles wild turkeys, has a gamier taste and costs $4.99 a pound. They are sold frozen because there isn't enough demand to keep fresh on hand.

A conventional frozen turkey at most grocery stores usually cost less than $1 a pound. Stores offer steep discounts around the holidays to lure shoppers that buy other Thanksgiving fare.

Customers describe the fresh turkeys as moister and more robust because the intensity of the flavor has not been subjected to frostbite. In addition to the flavor, customers like the idea that their poultry that hasn't been treated with additives.

"This is a reasonable compromise between the price you'd pay for a true organic turkey," said Jesse Perry of Raleigh, as he picked up his fresh turkey. "I feel it's better for us to eat."