Butcheries can’t talk (kosher) turkey this year

MARGOT COHEN

PHOTOGRAPHS SUPPLIED

Pictured: Nussbaums Kosher Butchery in Glenhazel… “Sorry no kosher turkeys…”

“Oy vey,” say some, but others interviewed by Jewish Report, like Dr Shaun Morris, a regular customer at Moishes, says he only likes the breast anyway.

“We would really like to stock kosher turkeys,” says Max Klass of Maxi Discount Kosher Butchery, but they were told that if kosher turkeys came from Israel they would cost between R1 000 – R1 300. “This is just too much for our customers.”

Bolnick explains there were outbreaks of Avian flu in Israel and America and although the outbreaks have been contained, the rand/dollar/shekel exchange makes it “uneconomical for us to resume importing, unless we can negotiate a better price.

“We even approached Poland with a view to getting kosher turkeys from them, but it’s just not feasible. The demand is too low.”

Valerie Lipshitz who shops at Nussbaums, says the lack of turkeys is “no problem”.

Moishes’ Yacov Lazarus says there has been talk of breeding kosher turkeys in South Africa, but “the idea was not embraced”.

Bolnick says there were no kosher turkeys last year for Rosh Hashanah and this year for Pesach and it seems like this scenario will continue for the immediate future.