1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164 
From farmyard to famity table...
Page 69
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
hen you sit down to eat your Christmas dinner, you'd probably be a bit disappointed if it didn't include a turkey (unless you're a vegetarian). That said, there's no getting round the fact that, for turkey suppliers, the run-up to Christmas is hectic.
Cookharn, Maidenhead-based Copes Traditional Turkeys has bred, slaughtered and distributed 47,000 turkeys this year.
Since turkey is traditional fare for Thanksgiving, which was on 27 November this year, Copes begins slaughtering the birds in November. They are then hand plucked and hung for 14 days to mature. After this, they are prepared for the oven and packed in presentation boxes before being loaded onto pallets.
Partner Tom Codas says distribution of the turkeys is a challenge. He says: "Our product is the key part of one meal, once a year and that means all our distribution happens at once."
Turkeys from Copes are distributed to butchers all over the UK: and the firm begins the process eight days before Christmas.
However, since it only has to transport the birds for one week a year, Copes does not have a fleet of its own.
Instead, it rents a refrigerated fleet of rigid trucks from Dawson Rentals. This fleet will deliver within 100 miles of Copes' farm; the trucks are driven by farm workers with HGV licences.
The rest of the country is covered by back hauls. Copes says: 'Many of the red meat producers are only too happy to collect a load of turkeys from us on their way back from deliveries in London.
"They will collect loads from us and deliver them to local butchers across two to three days. Some of the red meat hauliers have some really skilled drivers who are not only used to handling chilled meat, but are also used to making deliveries in small local towns."
Copes adds some of these hauliers are large firms, while others are smaller. He reveals: "We've had longstanding relationships with many of them, too."
This year, Copes will send out 40 loads in the eight days leading up to Christmas. The arks used by other hauliers carrying backloads will carry 1,500 turkeys, while the rigids are a mixture of four and six wheelers. The six wheelers will take 1,000 birds and the four wheelers can carry 800.
But not all turkey producers run such large operations. Lancashire and Cumbria-based Farmer Sharp will deliver 500 turkeys this Christmas.
Farmer Sharp sells turkeys at Borough Market in London to consumers, but also supplies restaurants and pubs.
Owner Andrew Sharp says transport is one of the biggest problems for the company.
Farmer Sharp uses four 3.5-tome Mercedes-Benz Sprinter refrigeration vans, but admits that it could make use of eight vans, were it not for the fact that they would be left idle for most of the year.
Similar to Copes, Farmer Sharp started delivering turkeys in time for Thanksgiving, but the majority of the birds are destined for the Christmas table.
"Since our birds are fresh, we do not deliver until the last possible minute to the restaurants and to Borough Market.
"This means that the four vans are on the road 24 hours a day, seven days a week, for two weeks before Christmas."
The company has seven drivers, including Sharp himself,
11 who cover the deliveries all over the UK.