KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia’s ban on turkey imports from the US is leading food and beverage (F&B) businesses to source the bird from elsewhere, while those celebrating Christmas are seeking other alternatives for their festive feast plans.
The ban, in place since 2021 due to the bird flu outbreak in the US, is seeing households opt for other replacements to be the centrepiece at dinner tables.
Small and Medium Enterprises Association of Malaysia (Samenta) national president Datuk William Ng confirmed a shortage in US supply after verifying the situation with association members in the F&B sector.
He said retailers are now selling each bird at RM80 to RM90 per kg, compared to RM40 to RM50 per kg in previous years.
“Due to the seasonal nature of the bird, it is not easy to scale up local production.
“In recent years, consumers have been gravitating towards smaller birds such as chickens to replace the traditional turkey, or to buy ham and other similar products,” he said.
“We suggest that Malaysians consider buying replacements such as local-bred chicken, which I think is just as nice and possibly juicier.”
Bukit Damansara’s The Meat Expert restaurant manager, who only gave his first name as Steven, told Scoop that turkeys require halal certification to be imported into Malaysia.
The restaurant, which usually sells between 40 to 100 turkeys each December, has had to find alternative sources for turkey due to the ban on poultry imports from the US.
“We import our turkeys from the US and Brazil. The US ones are bigger, around 5kg to 6kg, while Brazil’s would be smaller, around 4kg.
“Usually around Christmas season, customers will call to buy turkeys every day, with the most calls being in December every year compared to all other months,” Steven said, adding that he noticed a decrease in orders so far.
A check online on where to buy ready-to-eat roast turkeys weighing 4k or 5kg, with stuffing and side dishes, found that these takeaway sets are selling for between RM329 and above RM700, with orders to be placed days in advance.
In 2017, a similar list showed that roast turkey dinner sets were going for as low as RM288, and up to RM700 or more, depending on the additional trimmings, and if the retailer was a 5-star hotel.
Consumers’ Association of Penang (CAP) president Mohideen Abdul Kader told Scoop that turkey prices would likely increase due to the shortage.
He said the price increase depends on multiple factors such as supply and demand as well as foreign exchange rates.
“Consumers are advised to exercise discretion in their spending, particularly in times like this. If possible, they have to scale down their expenditure. This advice also applies to all other celebrations,” he said.
He said the US was the largest turkey meat supplier to Malaysia followed by the Netherlands and Australia.
There’s always chicken
On December 2, Deputy Domestic Trade and Costs of Living Minister Fuziah Salleh confirmed the ongoing shortage of imported turkey, and that local supply was insufficient.
A turkey farm in Perak is only able to produce 1,000 birds, she added. Malaysia has also sent an application to Turkiye to import their turkeys.
IT technician Barry Lee, 38, said he would usually buy turkey at RM9 per kg but recently noticed that the price had gone up to more than RM20.
He said he can substitute turkey with roasted chicken but still hopes turkey prices will drop so that he does not have to settle for chicken this year.
University student Abel, 21, said his family does not eat turkey for Christmas.
“We substitute it with chicken or beef,” he said.
Another student Felipe Jun Iglesia, 17, said the turkey shortage has no impact on his Christmas dinner plans as his family usually eats other types of meat.
“We usually substitute turkey for our more traditional Filipino cuisine, mainly consisting of meat such as pork and fish.
“For us, this is what we consider ‘Christmas food’,” he said.
Degree student Kenneth Tan, 20, said his Christmas plans are unaffected by the turkey shortage.
“I will be having a feast with roast chicken instead of turkey with my family this season anyway,” he said. – December 11, 2023