The holiday season brings thoughts of joy and family to most people’s hearts, but for a turkey the holiday season is a whole other story.

The holiday season causes major increases in consumer spending, especially within the food industry. Turkey sales during this time reach their peak. Local grocery stores and farmers see the result of months of work during this time.

“Holidays relate themselves to family dinners,” Nick Rees, spokesman for Kroger stores in Ohio, said. “Our sales increase a lot.”

Area Kroger stores plan for the holiday season six months in advance. The sales trends of the year before are looked at and food is stocked accordingly. For grocery stores, it is important to be fully staffed and fully stocked in preparation for the holiday season.

“It is without a doubt the busiest time of the year,” Bill Koza, Food Town Plus manager, said.

Food Town grocery stores set-up their own toll-free numbers just for turkey orders three weeks before Thanksgiving. Koza said the store increases it’s inventory on all items during the holiday season.

Sale of turkeys is not the only product that sees an increase. Rees said that bacon and other breakfast foods also sell well during the holiday season. With the holiday season a time of family gatherings, there is a greater need for preparing all meals not just Thanksgiving dinner. Food associated with the leftovers from Thanksgiving dinner, such as bread and mayonnaise, experience a sales boost, as well. Both stores will be offering frozen and fresh turkeys. Looking at past years frozen turkey sells better than fresh turkeys. Rees believes frozen turkeys sell better because they cost less. Rees said that fresh turkeys are often bought the week of Thanksgiving so consumers do not have to worry about thawing the turkey. Beyond grocery stores, local farms are seeing an increase in business.

The Britten Turkey Farm located in Perrysburg is experiencing its peak business time. The whole turkey farming season is based around Thanksgiving week.

“I started with 200 turkeys back in 1941 and have had turkeys on the farm ever since,” Richard Britten, owner of the Britten Turkey Farm, said.

The Britten Turkey Farm has been selling turkeys during the holiday season for over 60 years.

This year the Britten farm has about 5,500 turkeys. According to Britten 4,000 of those turkeys will be processed by Thanksgiving with the rest being processed by Christmas.

“We sell no frozen turkeys only fresh ones,” Britten said. “We feel that our quality is much better than the turkeys at grocery stores.”

Work at the farm is hectic during the holiday season. Workers have to keep all the turkeys fed and still take customer orders. Britten said that many customers come back to the farm every year for their holiday turkeys. Local companies buy from Britten for gifts to their employees.

For turkey retailers the holiday season is a busy time of year, but it is also a rewarding time. The holiday season brings familiar faces and regular customers back to the retailers.

“We look forward to this time of year because we get a chance to see all our customers,” Rees said. “This is a nice time of the year to be doing business.”