A Thanksgiving message

It’s incredible: Just days before November 27 – the final DSCSA deadline and the start of the industry-wide stabilization period – we’re all gearing up for a few days of family, food, and fun. It seems appropriate, though, that amid the busiest season of the busiest year in our decade of existence, we’re taking a moment for gratitude.

Not only gratitude for our customers and partners, or for our hardworking colleagues and brilliant collaborators across the industry, or for the daily joys and successes of this combination, but for the community that has formed around LSPedia.

Our team, larger than ever, now routinely connects with hundreds or thousands of people who choose to make LSPedia part of their day: joining our webinars, chatting with staff, sharing a meal at conferences, or even just starting conversations with an interesting question. The feeling is inspiring and humbling, and we couldn’t be more grateful.

So, we can’t say it enough: Thank you for being part of the LSPedia community. We hope you’re as excited to be part of our world as we are to have you with us.

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A Thanksgiving Tradition: Turkey Supply Chain Facts

To polish off the holiday blog post, let’s switch gears and revive an LSPedia tradition: fun facts about the complex supply chain that brings us our beloved Thanksgiving turkeys.

• ‍Retailers can spend half a year preparing for Thanksgiving. Some retailers begin their Thanksgiving planning in the spring, forming crucial relationships with producers and farmers, or partnering with third parties to get frozen turkeys into place for local stores to sell. We’re not surprised – after all, we know a lot about connections that can take months to create.  ‍
• Thanksgiving accounts for one-fourth of U.S. turkey-eating. According to a 2022 estimate by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Americans consume about 46 million turkeys on Thanksgiving Day. With 219 million turkeys projected to be raised across the U.S. this year, we can guess that more than a quarter of all turkey consumption happens on the holiday.‍
• 90% of Thanksgiving turkeys are frozen. Since turkeys only have a shelf life of 21 days, most Thanksgiving turkeys are frozen (and tend to cost as much as 50 cents less per pound than fresh turkeys). This also makes them available year-round, and ensures extra supply can be sold after the holiday. ‍
• Producers can lose money on turkey logistics. Store prices, set to accommodate consumers, often don’t cover the per-turkey expenses of production, warehousing, and delivery.
• ‍Turkey production is up – and prices are down. According to the American Farm Bureau Federation, the average price of an 8- to 16-pound turkey was $1.27 per pound in August 2023, down 22 percent year over year.‍
• There's no such thing as turkey DSCSA compliance. The word is turnkey. Turnkey!!

That’s a wrap! We wish you a joyful, fulfilling holiday.

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