hiya bucks Amersham, Beaconsfield, Chesham, Gerrards Cross, Missenden December 2018 | Page 46

WA I T RO S E & PA RT N E R S A H a p py C h r i s t m a s t o a l l readers of Hiya Bucks and Wa i t ro s e c u s t o m e r s This month is the biggest in retail. At Waitrose we expect lots of areas in the stores to be very busy in December. The stock is now cascading in ready for what we call “peak”. It is said that 87% of British households couldn’t do Christmas without a turkey. Although turkey meat is growing in popularity throughout the year, it’s Christmas dinner where tradition dictates it is at the heart of the meal. We are seeing consumers shift towards prepared crowns and stuffed joints rather than whole birds, which reduces cooking time and potential waste. Personally, I’m happy tucking into turkey leftovers until the new year! Up to 15th December you can pre-order turkeys building long-lasting relationships, some spanning 30 years. Turkey’s originated from the Americas. The bird reportedly got its name from the shipping route through the country Turkey when Spanish traders bought them to the fine dining tables of Europe. The traders operating in the Mediterranean were called “Turkey Merchants” and their cargo got named “Turkey birds” which eventually got abbreviated to turkeys. It is believed through fossil evidence that turkeys have been around for 10 million years and they are thought to have been first brought to Britain in 1526 by Yorkshire man William Strickland. He acquired six birds from American Indian traders on his travels and sold them for tuppence each in Bristol. His family Coat of Arms shows a turkey cock as the family crest and is amongst the earliest known European depictions of a turkey. to be collected in store on 21st, 22nd, 23rd or 24th December via the Waitrose website; there is a useful buying guide to help ensure you have the right bird for the big day. All Waitrose turkeys are reared in naturally ventilated houses that benefit from natural light in the day and restful darkness at night, and they enjoy roaming freely in open pastures. We work very closely with all our farmers, visiting each of them personally, and At the end of your shop in branch, you’ll receive a token to place in a box of the good cause you’d most like to support. The more tokens a cause gets, the bigger the donation they receive. Each month every Waitrose branch donates £1,000 (£500 in Convenience shops) between 3 local good causes that you choose. There are now 43 different breeds of turkey. The most common in the UK are standard white, bronze and Norfolk black breeds. The white turkey is the second fastest growing animal in the world, after blue whales. The average weight of a Christmas turkey is 5.5kg/12lb. Around 10 million are eaten in the UK every Christmas. In the US approximately 60 million are eaten at Thanksgiving. At Waitrose we like to offer vegetarians tasty options for Christmas day too, with special order A FREE CUP OF TEA OR COFFEE EVERYDAY AS A MYWAITROSE MEMBER. Don’t forget, you can pick up copies of Hiya Bucks in the following Waitrose stores: AMERSHAM, BEACONSFIELD, CHESHAM, GERRARDS CROSS, HAZLEMERE AND HIGH WYCOMBE 46 | hiyabucks.com