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FoodBev Media
10 March 2008
British Turkey prepares for summer
British Turkey is fired up this summer with plans to not only reassure consumers that turkey is safe to eat but also to entice them to think outside the box – like putting a turkey drumstick on the barbecue!
A simple recipe for long, slow barbecuing of a whole drumstick has been developed for British Turkey by celebrity chef Phil Vickery. The resident TV chef of This Morning insists the recipe is a summertime staple with his family.
Says Vickery: “The flavour and texture you will get is second to none. I serve mine with the meat pulled from the bones and piled into a soft bap.”
Says British Turkey spokesman Catriona Lee: “We are planning to use Phil’s recipe to get the media, and ultimately consumers, thinking about cuts of turkey they wouldn’t normally consider, and new and fun ways of cooking them.”
Lee says retailers are giving more support to linking British Turkey with barbecues every year and producers are meeting demand by developing a fast-growing range of portioned and convenience products with al fresco and barbecue eating in mind.
“The Best Barbecue Product is always a hotly contested category in our annual British Turkey awards. This year’s finalists included sausages, tikka marinaded steaks and – the winner – Morrisons Hot and Spicy Kebabs. “
And many retailers now flag up cuts of British turkey suitable for barbecuing with special BBQ stickers,” says Lee.
“This sits nicely alongside the nutritional information because turkey must be the most healthy barbecue food you can eat. Plus, new for this summer, we will be going into the summer season with the benefit of the familiar Red Tractor logo longside our own Quality British Turkey assurance. This is double reassurance in many consumers’ minds, while retailers also appreciate that QBT is the only ISO 45001 approved turkey growing and processing scheme in the world. Reassurance just doesn’t get better than that.”
The message that British turkey is good to barbecue – plus it’s healthy, versatile and delicious – will be spread among butchers, retailers, caterers plus the press and the public. There will BBQ related competitions on the website and through the media to further help raise the profile.
Added Lee: “We feel this campaign will give British turkey a terrific boost during this important barbecue season, which seems to get extended each year. Many people now start barbecuing at Easter and don’t put the barbie away until October. Even the bad weather doesn’t stop them.”