"We ordered a lot more turkeys this year than last year, about 36,000 more, just to ensure that we have enough for our customers for the holiday season," said Sheryl Toda, a spokeswoman for Foodland Super Market, the state’s largest supermarket chain. "We didn’t have enough turkeys last year."

Star Markets, which ran out of turkeys before Christmas last year, also ordered more turkeys, said John Fu jieki, president and chief executive officer for the company.

"Last year was a little tough," Fujieki said. "This year we should have ample supply."

Buying enough turkeys is tricky business, grocers will tell you. With Thanksgiving and Christmas so close, they have to order enough for both holidays and they only have one shot at the right estimate — unless they want to pay a lot more for last-minute orders.

"Usually you want to have a little bit extra so you can go on into the next holiday," Fujieki said. "You don’t want too much extra. The best way is to be exact, but that is extremely hard."

Roger Godfrey, president of Times Super Market, promises "plenty of birds."

"We ordered more than we did last year," he said. "We’re hoping to have more business, but they are frozen, so we can hold on to them for Christmas if we need to."

Prices of the prized bird are generally lower this year at Honolulu supermarkets. Most stores are offering price specials, with per-pound prices lower for customers who also buy a certain amount of additional items.

"The every-day price is higher, but our promotional price will be very competitive," Fujieki said.

The holiday turkey wars also come with bold statements.

"We guarantee to have the lowest turkey price in town," said Foodland’s Toda. "We will match or beat any major supermarket."

Over at Times, Godfrey vowed his turkeys would be at the right price.

"My guarantee," he said.