Thanksgiving turkeys cost more after bird flu wipeout

Chicago

TO make sure all 15 of the Busch's Fresh Food Market stores had enough turkeys over 22 pounds (10 kilogrammes) to sell for Thanksgiving this month, meat buyer John Taormina began ordering in January. He didn't end up with a single one of the big birds, which last year accounted for more than a third of what the Michigan company sold for the holiday.

After the worst-ever US outbreak of avian influenza destroyed almost 8 million turkeys earlier this year, there are fewer of them, and those that remain are smaller than normal. That's boosting wholesale costs for grocers to a record, and consumer prices are the highest ever for this time of year. Amer…