Price of Turkeys Up as Much as 50% : Shoppers Scurry for Thanksgiving Food

Elsie Peterson couldn’t find her favorite brands of sausage, milk or cheap ice cream at her Lucky supermarket in Santa Monica on Thursday.

Linda Davis’ sweet tooth was calling, but she couldn’t find the Doo Dads, Fun Fruit or Skittles she craved at a Vons market in Riverside.

And Paty Gorgi, searching through shelves with “temporarily-out-of-stock” tags at a Vons in La Mesa in San Diego County, couldn’t find any margarine.

Those kind of sporadic, nagging, unpredictable shelf shortages are plaguing numerous shoppers as the strike and lockout at nearly 1,000 Southern California supermarkets enters its 18th day.

Turkey Prices Up

Equally irritating to consumers is the fact that the price of a fresh or frozen Thanksgiving turkey--one of the products that seems to be in ample supply everywhere--is up as much as 50% over last year, partially as a result of the labor dispute between seven market chains and nearly 22,000 meat cutters and Teamsters.

The developments compound a prolonged strike that has already been marked by violence and sabotage.

Market executives and wholesalers say the shelf shortages are being eased as platoons of substitute drivers and other employees become accustomed to the retail food industry’s delivery system.

Nevertheless, as Southern Californians prepare to stock up for traditional Thanksgiving feasts, a rush that makes this weekend the busiest of the year for grocers, a number of shoppers will have to employ more persistence to achieve precisely the menu they have planned, according to an informal survey taken Thursday by Times reporters at 43 supermarkets in Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego and Riverside counties.

Shortages Found

Shortages of some products were found in 12 of 36 markets that belong to the chains affected by the strike and lockout. No significant problems were found at seven other markets that are not part of the labor dispute.

In most markets, the shortages were limited to a few items, the most common being dairy products, frozen foods and meat. Virtually all markets had managed by Thursday to have an ample supply of traditional Thanksgiving staples such as pumpkin pie filling, yams and sweet potatoes.

Several shoppers said they had to take extra steps to get what they wanted.

For example, in Huntington Beach, Grace Wilson found almost everything she wanted for her holiday meal, even paper napkins with a turkey motif, but could not find frozen cranberries.

“The consumer is having to go from store to store because they can’t find what they want,” said Richard Johnson, manager of Bob’s Market in Santa Monica, a small independent market that is profiting from the strike.

Short Supplies Denied

Despite complaints by customers, executives of many of the chains affected by the labor dispute claimed that virtually none of the more than 20,000 items carried by the typical market is in short supply.

“Any shortages (that may have been spotted) could be the result of an irregular delivery--which is not the same as a shortage,” Safeway’s Sharon M. Brown said. “And I don’t know of any items that are prone to irregular deliveries.”

However, food industry experts said that a combination of manpower and skill shortages are eroding the normally smooth path that products travel from manufacturer to supermarket warehouse to the markets themselves. The vast majority of the employees who handle that process are members of the Teamsters.

The use of many new and inexperienced employees has created small delays that, when compounded, can make the difference between a market getting its daily delivery of, for instance, canned corn, or suffering through a day with an empty shelf, several sources said.

Replacements a Problem

A major problem for many food manufacturers and market chains has been finding enough non-union drivers to replace the striking Teamster truckers.

“We have had to bring them in from other areas, from Northern California or Arizona,” said an executive of one company that is being struck.

Fewer drivers--and mistakes in routes made by newly hired ones--costs hours. In addition, when a delivery is made to a supermarket warehouse, slower performances by newly hired office workers, order fillers and forklift operators means that goods are not stored or sent out to markets as quickly, according to those familiar with the delivery process.

And even when an individual market receives its deliveries, there may be more delays because some of the employees who stock it are also substitutes, filling in for some of the members of the Retail Clerks Union who are honoring the strike.

“It’s an inconvenience of time,” said one Ralphs store manager who asked not to be identified. “We may not get some items in the morning, but we may get them in an afternoon shipment. Sometimes we will get a supply in the morning and run out in the afternoon.”

At a busy Hughes market in West Los Angeles, acting grocery manager Dean Funar said some manufacturers have been sending items directly to individual markets to speed up the delivery process.

Funar said most shortages have been alleviated, but still “the milk sometimes comes in 12 hours late, and when it does come, it’s just chaos, panic buying” among customers.

Situation to Improve

Dave Willauer, a spokesman for the Food Employers Council, which represents the market chains involved in the dispute, said the stock situation at most stores will improve as the holidays approach because “the personnel we’ve hired are getting better trained.”

While a few supermarket chains plan on offering substantial turkey discounts, the cost of the holiday centerpiece this year will be at its highest level in several years.

Los Angeles and Orange counties are the nation’s most competitive food retailing areas and supermarket chains have historically taken heavy losses on turkeys to lure shoppers into the store to purchase all of their other substantial holiday food and beverage needs.

The problems created by disruptions in food transportation and related meat services have tempered grocers’ inclination to match or beat competitors’ prices for gobblers. This year, most of the markets are still using the turkeys as loss leaders, but not to the extent of past Thanksgiving price competitions when some stores reported that sales gimmicks resulted in losses as high as $16 a bird.

Advantage of Assortment

“The labor dispute has affected some of the chains’ ability to deliver on crazy turkey prices. What is important this year, in light of the current labor difficulties, is to offer all our customers a good supply of all (types of) turkey and related holiday items,” said Al Marasca, Ralphs Grocery Co. executive vice president. “A full assortment of items will be the principle marketing advantage (in the Los Angeles area).”

The grocers’ caution means that consumers will pay more this season for the holiday bird than in either 1984 or 1983. Turkey prices follow a complicated formula that spans several tiers based on the bird’s quality, whether its frozen or fresh and depending on the amount of groceries purchased.

The price of a frozen, store-brand, Grade-A turkey last year ranged from 59 to 69 cents a pound without any other purchase requirements. Thursday’s supermarket advertisements placed the cost of the same bird at about 89 cents a pound at Ralphs, Safeway and Vons and at 98 cents a pound at Hughes Markets. Lucky offered its frozen turkeys at 69 cents a pound.

These relatively static prices are considerably lower than those caused by 1984’s price-cutting frenzy when several food chains, including Vons, Safeway Stores and Hughes Markets offered a free, frozen turkey to customers who purchased $100 worth of groceries. The $100 total had to be reached without including dairy items, liquor, cigarettes and the cost of the bird itself. Other chains sold turkeys for as little as 17 cents a pound in 1984 with the same $100 purchase requirements.

Extend Offer

This year only two companies, Safeway and Hughes, have extended the free turkey offer.