Thanksgiving turkey

[Manassas]

Modest dinner... 555

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Just a couple interesting updates:

 

Looks like Villa in BKK at least are selling imported Norbest turkeys from the U.S., but perhaps, they may be getting around the import ban on raw meat by only selling imported pre-fully cooked turkeys, since fully cooked is all that they appear to be showing in the way of U.S. imports. Note that for each offering of Norbest turkeys, they're always marked as "fully cooked" or "roasted."

 

Personally, I don't mind a pre-cooked turkey or turkey breast from the U.S.  I'm just wondering, why we haven't seen more of that on offer in the past turkey-starved years...

 

 

Tops, meanwhile, appears to be offering only Thai turkeys. Note the reference to "Tak Sila" brand and local turkeys under the "terms and conditions" text below:

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Regarding Villa Markets, I noticed this turkeys price list the other day when I was in their main Suk Soi 33 store in Bangkok.  Not sure which brand, but may be their imported Norbest ones as they'll all indicated as being pre-cooked.

 

[sceadugenga]

I had news today that Tops in Central have frozen turkeys and "pieces" reduced to 450B a kg.

My informant was not sure whether they were local or imported, I'll try to check tomorrow.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

9 hours ago, sceadugenga said:

I had news today that Tops in Central have frozen turkeys and "pieces" reduced to 450B a kg.

My informant was not sure whether they were local or imported, I'll try to check tomorrow.

 

Be interested to hear what comes of that. Back in the ole' days a few years back pre-US turkey import ban, Central and Tops usually would have their frozen, uncooked U.S. turkeys go on sale a week or two before the holiday, and the price would come down to about 599b per kilo from the much higher regular price, if memory serves.

 

However, when I price out Villa's price above in post #32 for the pre-cooked, frozen Norbest whole turkeys (not breasts), they seem to come out at about 490b per kilo (that's almost $15 U.S. per kilo!!!). So that's pretty much in the neighborhood you're hearing about.

 

 

Edited November 19, 2017 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

9 hours ago, sceadugenga said:

I had news today that Tops in Central have frozen turkeys and "pieces" reduced to 450B a kg.

My informant was not sure whether they were local or imported, I'll try to check tomorrow.

 

Here's what Tops and Central had last year, and these were Thai turkeys.

 

 

[Capone]

That is incredibly interesting. I definitely would love to try it. Of course this was bound to happen. Next step raised and bread to US standards and distributed locally. They are sitting on a gold mine.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

4 hours ago, Capone said:

That is incredibly interesting. I definitely would love to try it. Of course this was bound to happen. Next step raised and bread to US standards and distributed locally. They are sitting on a gold mine.

 Maybe it's just me, but the Thai turkey photo from last year from Tops looks pretty scrawny!!!  The general rep on Thai turkeys seems to be lots of bones and skin...

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

4 hours ago, Capone said:

 They are sitting on a gold mine.

 Not sure about Thais and turkey. From my personal experience, Thais generally seem to be pretty uninterested in turkey meat. Maybe it's just those I've been around. Or maybe it's a general disposition to not be interested in new/different things when it comes to food. And of course, there's no culture of Thanksgiving and Christmas meals here among Thais associated with turkey.

[Capone]

You know what i completely agree.. that's why i'm supposing there would still be space if bread and fed by USA standards. i bet it's something taped up still.. at the moment for the increasing demand. that doesn't take from the fact that sooner or later it will work.. they are going to get it right by trial and error . unless someone with better experience does it for them. The picture might be an indicator of the fact that at the moment that is the best we can come up with made in Thailand.

 

[Capone]

Let's face it eating here could be declared a sport pr a national hobby. That doesn't mean that perhaps painfully slowly it could slip into the market. Turkey meat It's genuinely great. let's just think how Thai's used to think about coffee just 10 years ago. but i would suppose that just for now the farang market would suffice for an endearing entrepreneur with the right knowhow

[sceadugenga]

I took a look today, they're Thai turkeys, small with no breast pieces.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

And I stopped by my local Foodland in BKK today and had a chat with their manager.

 

She showed me that they had exactly ONE frozen, fully cooked Norbest turkey breast at 525b per kilo in their small freezer section along with ONE Thai turkey. And from her description, it sounded like she didn't expect to be getting any more than that.

 

 

BTW, there's also a separate thread running on moderately priced Thanksgiving turkey dinners available in BKK. It was disappeared by the mods for a couple days, but now seems to have been restored. So that's a better place now for any BKK-related Thanksgiving turkey info.

 

 

Edited November 21, 2017 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[ripstanley]

This is in Chiang Rai forum. The OP has asked about what is available in Chiang Rai not Bangkok

[Manassas]

17 hours ago, sceadugenga said:

I took a look today, they're Thai turkeys, small with no breast pieces.

Anybody have an update on Makro? I'm shopping today and would rather not drive to every store.

[sceadugenga]

I would say that they would have Thai turkeys but it's just a guess.

[Manassas]

6 hours ago, sceadugenga said:

I would say that they would have Thai turkeys but it's just a guess.

I went to Makro. Plenty of nice looking ducks. Also a few Thai turkeys that looked fatter than the ones at Tops and also cheaper, but couldn't make out the cost per kilo on the label.