• by Sarah Mahoney , Staff Writer @mahoney_sarah, October 18, 2024

For millions of home cooks, Thanksgiving conjures up turkey angst. Consumers break out calculators to estimate whether that rock-solid bird will take one, three or five days to thaw, jamming it into crowded refrigerators or submerging it under constantly running water, all with the specter of salmonella floating over their heads. Butterball is introducing its first-ever solution, with a Cook from Frozen Premium Whole Turkey. The poultry prep requires just two steps: Unwrap. And roast.

Michelle Lieszkovszky, head of new products at the Garner, North Carolina-based company, tells CPG Insider what’s behind the innovation.

Interview has been edited for length and clarity.

CPG Insider: Butterball has been running the Turkey Talk Line for decades, with 50 turkey experts answering calls all day. Do questions about thawing lead the list of panicked queries?

Michelle Lieszkovszky: You nailed it. The No. 1 question we get is, “What should I do if I haven’t left enough time for thawing?”

Before we worked on prototyping this concept, we would talk to consumers about their frustrations around such a long thaw time. It's very challenging to plan. If you’re thawing a turkey, you must put it in the refrigerator, preventing you from having space in the fridge for all your other sides. And once you get it thawed, it can be messy to prepare.

Consumers said, “I would love to escape the kitchen and connect with my family.”

CPG Insider: What else do people call 1-800-Butterball about?

Lieszkovszky: We do lots of other research, too, and we get a lot of questions about how to make Thanksgiving a little less stressful every year. [Consumers] want it to be easier, with 69% telling us they want more convenience during the holidays. Thawing is just one of the problems that this Cook from Frozen Turkey solves. It’s more convenient, even for our experienced hosts.

CPG Insider: What skill level do you think this bird will appeal to?

Lieszkovszky: When we started this project, we thought it would be just for the hesitant hosts, the inexperienced ones. But we found it has a much broader appeal. Even people who have been serving Thanksgiving for years love that they can get all the glory without any work. You open the bag, turn on the oven, brush the turkey with some oil, put it in the oven, and roast. That allows you more time to prepare your sides, get the house ready, and connect with your family. It's effortless, and you still get all the glory when you put this beautiful, golden-brown turkey on the table.

CPG Insider: I first came across the idea of cooking from frozen last year, with many recipe blogs offering how-to advice. It seems like a big shift in Thanksgiving orthodoxy.

Lieszkovszky: Yes, and there have been similar cook-from-frozen products in the marketplace. But first, this one comes from Butterball, a brand people have known and trusted for years.

And we’ve made it so easy. This product has no neck or giblets to remove, so it's already preprepared for you. The packaging and instructions help consumers at the point of purchase to know what to expect. And it roasts to a beautiful golden brown.

CPG Insider: That comes from the brining, right? But what about consumers who are curious about doing their brining? Many consumers seem more curious and sophisticated about meat prep, even if thawing remains a mystery.

Lieszkovszky: Consumers are all at different experience levels. This particular turkey has already been brined, which helps the turkey retain its moisture. But yes, some people are really into their brine or other prep methods, which is why we have a range of products for consumers who want to add more customization.

CPG Insider: How many customers do you estimate will choose the Cook From Frozen Turkey?

Lieszkovszky: We’ll see how it does in its first year. But we have some preliminary insights that tell us this has broad appeal, and we’ve seen a lot of purchase intent data.

CPG Insider: In addition to point of sale in supermarkets, what are the marketing plans?

Lieszkovszky: We’ve got robust plans for both traditional media and in-store to educate consumers and build awareness. We’ve got a 30-second spot that will air on streaming TV.