Aldi claims that its birds are the best

Christmas may still be six weeks away, but the race among supermarkets to put their turkey on the dinner table come 25 December has already begun.

Budget retailer Aldi announced yesterday that it will be selling a premium turkey for Christmas that will provide “more bird for the buck” than its rivals.

Aldi’s Roly Poly turkey will be priced at £35.99, which is 40 per cent cheaper than the average cost of premium turkeys last year, according to Aldi.

It hopes to sell 170,000 of the birds this year, more than double the 70,000 standard turkeys customers bought from Aldi in 2011.

“It is going to be one of the best on the market,” an Aldi spokesman said. “The birds have been kept on straw and cared for around the clock. We are expecting them to fly off the shelves.”