Whole Foods Market serves up Thanksgiving Day turkey insurance

Whole Foods Market is offering a helping of Thanksgiving Day peace of mind with what it calls the first-ever turkey insurance.

In a partnership with insurer Progressive, Whole Foods on Tuesday unveiled the Thanksgiving Turkey Protection Plan, which offers customers buying their turkey at Whole Foods Market a $35 store gift card in case they “commit a turkey cooking fail,” such as an overcooked, undercooked, dry or burnt bird.

The Austin, Texas-based specialty grocer said the plan provides a safeguard for consumers “hosting Thanksgiving for the first time” or “scarred from a previous bird blunder.”

“As we anticipate more smaller Thanksgiving gatherings and first-time cooks tackling turkey preparation this year, the Thanksgiving Turkey Protection Plan allows customers the freedom of culinary exploration, knowing all is not lost should their cooking go astray,” Theo Weening, vice president of meat and poultry at Whole Foods. “We want to help customers rise to the occasion and take on that turkey with confidence for less-stressed Thanksgiving meal preparation.”

To be eligible for the Thanksgiving Turkey Protection Plan, shoppers must buy and obtain their Whole Foods Market-brand turkey — via an in-store purchase, online pickup or home delivery — between Nov. 11 and 22. If their cooked turkey turns out to be an unsuccessful endeavor, they go to TurkeyProtectionPlan.com for details on how to submit a claim.

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Claims must be submitted between Nov. 26 and 27 and include the receipt for the turkey, a photo of the “failed” turkey and a brief description of what went wrong, according to Whole Foods. The offer is limited to the first 1,000 claims, capped at one claim per customer.

The TurkeyProtectionPlan.com website features a video spot with actor Jim Cashman, known for his role as “Jamie” in Progressive’s humorous television commercials. In the segment, Jamie describes the Thanksgiving Turkey Protection Plan and shows off some outlandish Thanksgiving Day turkey recipes. The site also includes links to turkey cooking tips, a turkey buying guide, ordering a Whole Foods turkey for pickup or delivery, and Progressive insurance products.

Whole Foods said that, starting on Nov. 11, it’s offering Whole Foods Market-brand uncooked organic and classic turkeys for $3.49 and $2.49 per pound, respectively. Between Nov. 11 and 22, Amazon Prime members can get extra savings for those turkeys, at $2.99 per pound for organic and $1.99 for classic, while supplies last. Whole Foods also offers Prime members free two-hour grocery delivery in more than 2,000 cities and towns across 90 major metropolitan areas, as well as free one-hour pickup from all of Whole Foods’ 487 U.S. locations.

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