Ajay Watts’s father started off selling 50 turkeys a year at his Cape Cod farm. Now, more than 20 years later, people line up days before Thanksgiving to buy the several hundred he raises for the holiday.
Watts attributed much of the success of the family farm’s turkey sales to people’s growing appetite for farm-fresh, locally grown food.
And tradition, which is so important at this time of the year.
“We’ve been doing it for so many years now . . . It’s kind of a tradition for people,’’ said Watts, who has run the farm with his brother, Andrew, since their father, Peter, retired. “We have the same people that come back year after year.’’
When Watts Family Farm opened in 1980 in the village of Forestdale, part of the town of Sandwich, it specialized in recycling and composting. But once it entered the fresh turkey market about 15 years later, there was no turning back.
“Honestly, the turkeys are more of just a side hobby,’’ he said in a phone interview, noting composting is still the farm’s focus. “My dad started doing it back in the mid-’90s, and then we kind of just kept going with it from there.’’
Turkey sales steadily rose since they started until last year, when there was a devastating setback. A fire at their supplier, Bob’s Turkey Farm in Lancaster, killed 7,000 baby turkeys just before they were to be delivered to farms that raise them for Thanksgiving.
“Luckily, it happened early in the season, so we could get the word out that we weren’t going to have turkeys for the season,’’ Watts said.
But the owners of Bob’s Turkey Farm worked hard to get back on their feet for the 2017 hatching season, he said.
“They bounced back pretty quick,’’ Watts said, after businesses and residents from neighboring towns joined forces to lend a hand.
This year, the Watts farm received its share of chicks right on time — on July 13. They started processing the mature turkeys Friday and expect more than 100 people to be lined up Monday morning waiting to get one, he said.
The birds, 300 of them, go on sale for $3.50 per pound at 8 a.m. Monday, he said. First come, first served.
Alyssa Meyers can be reached at alyssa.meyers@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @ameyers_.
