7 News Belize

Turkeys Not In Short Supply
posted (December 19, 2017)
For the past few years, we've been reporting on turkey shortages caused by Avian influenza in Belize. That has meant successive years of importing turkeys - which delighted some but disenfranchised others who prefer the cost and quality of the local bird. This year, though, there's no need for imports. We visited Quality Poultry Products to find out more about the big demand for the Christmas Bird:...

Jules Vasquez reporting
It's Christmas and right now, Turkey's the thing. Quality Poultry's stocks have fully rebounded from Avian Influenza and the company expects to sell as many as sixty thousand of these big birds this Christmas.

Raymond Barkman, GM - Quality Poultry
"We want to keep all the money at home we don't want it to go abroad, so we have been fighting hard this year to be completely self-sufficient on turkeys again. so what we did, we took last year when we had completely local turkey when we were self-sufficient we put 30% of all the sizes so that this year we could have enough local turkey and we don't have to worry about imported turkey."

And while the freezer may runneth over today....

Jules Vasquez, reporter
"There is enough of the local turkey that I don't have to worry."

Raymond Barkman, GM - Quality Poultry
"Well of course, but I would suggest everybody to rush in and quickly get that turkey as soon as you can, just in case my calculations are wrong, right. I don't think so. I believe it will be just fine."

Now, there are still imported turkeys from last year - if that's your preference:

Raymond Barkman. GM - Quality Poultry
"There is still some imported turkeys out there and that is actually left overs from last year, but let me be clear, most turkeys stays in the freezer a few years, not here in Belize, but in the US 2-3 years turkey in the freezer is not a problem at all. Docent spoil or anything. Because remember it has preservatives and all that stuff. So you don't have to worry if you still want imported turkey, which I hope you don't - there is still some out there."

But while this chicken man - will never say his poultry stinks - Barkman insists there are qualitative differences between local and imported:

Raymond Barkman. GM - Quality Poultry
"Now that we've had the imported turkey to deal with and we see what we have to deal with, I mean you cannot begin to imagine. I know most viewers agree with this that the imported turkey doesn't even compare with the local turkey. First of all it gets injected with brine, so you are buying water instead of a real turkey. We have our none-GMO turkey."

And it's a bird Belizeans love:

Raymond Barkman, GM - Quality Poultry
"Yes Belizeans love turkey or a lot this year and I found out that we are the only Caribbean country that loves turkey the whole year round. Everywhere else in the Caribbean the only have it for Christmas - one time a week. We have it for thanksgiving, graduation and even so just for the fun of it."

Jules Vasquez, reporter
"For your birthday what do you eat, chicken or turkey?"

Raymond Barkman, GM - Quality Poultry
"Well I am a chicken guy naturally. Only on one condition I'll be very honest here when my wife does turkey I love turkey more than chicken, but only then."

Barkman says Quality Poultry retails turkey for 4 dollars per pound, and stores should be somewhere in that range. The most popular turkey is between eight and 12 pounds.

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7 News Belize