Talkin’ Turkey
Well, it must be Thanksgiving week. The turkeys are coming out all over the news. Or the business of turkeys, as the case may be. It seems that the Butterball brand has been sold to a privately held company. But the new management wants the transition to be completely seamless. The turkey help line for the kitchen klueless will keep right on chugging along just as it always has.
And while customers might not notice a difference, having the Butterball name in hand has changed things at Mount Olive, N.C.-based Carolina Turkey. The company is now called Butterball LLC, and after selling only to restaurants and grocery stores for decades, it no longer has to worry about developing a brand name as it expands its consumer business.
"For this Christmas season, the product (consumers are) gonna buy — Butterball — will be the same as it was for the last 20 years," said Tom Vukina, a professor who specializes in poultry economics at North Carolina State University.
That's just the way Shoemaker wants it.
Shoemaker is a former executive at Virginia-based Smithfield Foods, the publicly traded firm that owns a large stake of the renamed company and is the world's largest pork producer. He has focused on ensuring a smooth transition — one transparent to customers — since the sale closed in October.
That includes keeping everything at Butterball's Turkey Talk-Line the same.
Callers will hear the same Midwestern voices that for years have answered the phones in Naperville, Ill., where a team of more than 50 Thanksgiving dinner experts educated at "Butterball University" are available every November and December at 1-800-BUTTERBALL to help kitchen klutzes.
"They're used to a Midwest accent," said Shoemaker of the tens of thousands expected to call this season. "I want everything to be so seamless I won't move the thing unless we move to another place in the Midwest.
"I must be anal about it."
But not very good at managing interviews it seems. That is a poor choice of words when talking about turkeys. Well, most of the time. Politicians are another matter entirely.
By Sam L., Tuesday, 21 November , 2006 @ 8:38 am
I note that Maggie’s Farm (on your blogroll) has, as their “Bird of the Week”, the Eastern Wild Turkey. I doubt that it tastes anything like Kentucky’s Wild Turkey, or fits into a glass as well. Still (you’ll pardon the usage), the Kentucky kind can put you down for the count if you’re not careful.
By Gaius, Tuesday, 21 November , 2006 @ 8:55 am
Quite true. That may have to be the subject for a post!