Copas Turkeys – September 2014

They may share their names with St Andrews golfing legends but the only par at King Coppice Farm home of Copas top quality turkeys is Par Excellence.

Tom's passion for turkeys began after leaving school in 1957 when his father decided that his son needed a new project to keep him occupied. Well what a project that turned out to be! Starting from school with 153 birds that he sold to the local market, Copas now sell over 40,000 top quality turkeys throughout Great Britain. From being the saviour for local families and friends, Copas now proudly supplies the best butchers, foodies and celebrities nationwide.

Copas turkeys are just for Christmas because when it's the meal that really matters everyone wants to serve up something special.

Care and attention are paramount to make sure that they stand out from the crowd so they have developed special points of difference.

These can be easily identified as follows:-

Traditional slow-growing breeds of turkeys from specialist British hatcheries. Over 21 different breeds on the farm to provide beautifully finished birds in all weights.

All Copas Turkeys are fully mature and aged between 24 and 26 weeks at the time of slaughter.

Fuller life creates dense meat and superior fat cover meaning Copas turkeys do not need basting.

Dry plucking allows game hanging for a minimum of two weeks to ensure tender eating and superior depth of flavour.

Superb stockist support with point of sale materials, individual boxed birds and personalised labelling.

An impressive brand strength that is enhanced in the lead up to Christmas with extensive positive PR.

In reality this means that Copas turkeys come from the first poults hatched in the UK each year. They will start life in late May and early June.

Copas were feeding your Christmas turkeys before this year's World Cup kicked off. Alternative Christmas turkeys might not yet be hatched!

Some impersonators claim to be dry aged but that can often mean for a mere six hours. Copas hang turkeys for up to two weeks and have commissioned research that confirms that hanging turkeys takes seven days to make a difference.

This is because it takes that long for the enzymes in the gut to activate and create tenderness and flavour.

The bird is hung and aged in the traditional manner in order to age it properly i.e. has not yet been eviscerated.

A new addition to the range is very very special chicken. Special chicken for a special occasion, chicken like chicken should taste like.

Copas chickens live for over twelve weeks, double the lifespan of a commercial chicken. Like the turkeys the flock are free to roam at Tom Snr's residence in the fields of Mount Farm where they indulge in a natural cereal diet supplemented with extra vegetables from a local producer. The birds are game hung for 10 days, hand finished and delivered in individual boxes.

Copas process their birds on the farm but this is no rough and rustic operation. Production is not in some back shed but in a state of the art abattoir and processing plant. No sawdust, only spotless walls, floors and practices. No circumnavigation of inspections and audits – when processing at Copas an Official Veterinary Surgeon is onsite permanently as required by the Food Standards Agency. No blissful regard to food safety, Copas undertake microbiological testing and are regular winners of Poultry Processing Awards.

Young Tom and his three sisters Tanya, Fenella and Sarah grew up on the farm and the turkey business has been their interests all along. While his sisters have taken time out to devote some time to motherhood, Tom has slipped into the General Manager's role although his father still has his own office and still freely offers his years of experience.

The Copas family and their staff work hard to get things right. They care passionately about what they do and believe that the only way for butchers and independent traders to compete with large multiple retailers is to offer significantly different and higher quality products.

COPAS TRADITIONAL TURKEYS LTD Kings Coppice Farm, Grubwood Lane, Cookham, Maidenhead, Berkshire. SL6 9UB Tel: 01628 474678.
Email: [email protected]. Web: www.copasturkeys.co.uk

Attachments:

• COPASOCT2014.pdf