PHOENIX — Over the past few months, restaurants and retail outlets have reported a backlog of certain products because of supply chain issues. While there are turkeys at the store, the U.S. Department of Agriculture is reporting the inventory of frozen turkeys is 24% lower due to higher feed costs and a decrease in turkey production.
A local butcher shop says because their turkeys are raised locally in Arizona, they aren't running into any supply problems.
"We control all aspects of the animal from farm to table," said David Grant, head butcher of The Meat Shop in South Phoenix.
He says they are filling 150 turkey orders this Thanksgiving. That's more than in years past. While it may not sound like a lot for a retail store, for this shop of about five employees, it keeps them busy.
"It's just, can we get it off the carcass fast enough and out the door," Grant said.
He says at the start of the pandemic when store shelves were empty, they had more customers than ever before coming to them for food. He says many of those customers have kept coming back, which is why they’ve had an increase in orders.
He says restaurants having trouble receiving shipments of certain chicken or beef products are also now turning to them for help.
"A few of them have increased their orders because their supply chain has started dwindling a little bit. So we've increased because of that," Grant said.
Grant says they are booked for turkey orders ahead of Thursday, but they still have other types of meat available. He says they are now preparing for Christmas, their busiest holiday of the year.
