every day."
Diversification – the introduction of
smoked products, brined turkeys, turkey
bacon, ham and pastrami and mail order
sales – seems to be one of the keys to the
growth of the Willie Bird brand over the
last 50 years.
"We're surviving," says Brodsky. "You've
got to find a niche. There are only four
other turkey producers left in California
– Foster Farms, Diestel, Zacky Farms and
Mary's. California turkeys are more expensive. You've got to bring the feed from the
Midwest, and land and wages cost more.
Most turkeys are raised east of the Rockies."
Gesturing across the magnificent 400-
Visit our Christmas House this Holiday Season
acre Calistoga Road ranch that the turkeys
roam, he adds, "This is premium property."
The locavore movement – which encourages people to eat locally grown and
raised foods – has helped Willie Bird as
has the loyalty of generations of North
Bay residents who wouldn't dream of
westendnursery.com
serving anything other than an authentic
Willie Bird to holiday guests.
At one point about 15 years ago, Brodsky explains that Williams-Sonoma was
shipping out 64 million catalogs that featured Willie Bird turkeys, something that
drew abundant attention to the Sonoma
County company.
"We have name recognition across the
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As if on cue, Brodsky's cell phone rings
his 90s, tells Brodsky he wants to order
some turkey pastrami and smoked turkey.
The entire exchange takes place while
truck in a bucolic, oak-studded valley surrounded on all sides by 30,000 contented
and clucking birds. It's hard to imagine a
ily business that evolved from one young
boy's FFA project.
Lighting
Recycle
2012 Heroes of Marin Environmental Stewardship Awardee
Awarded Green Business of the Year 2012 by the San Rafael Chamber of Commerce
Supporter of San Rafael Clean Campaign
Member of Marin Clean Energy
Brodsky's standing alongside his dusty
more fitting sales transaction for a fam-
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Award Winning Self Storage
and he fields a call from a long-time customer in Boston. The gentleman, who's in
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3
2009-201
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WINTER 2013 • FLOURISH
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