Turkey tycoon Matthews dies on Thanksgiving

A “TURKEY tycoon” who became a cult figure thanks to his catchphrase Bootiful! has died at the age of 80 — just at the start of the US Thanksgiving holiday.

Farmer and businessman Bernard Matthews made a multi-million pound fortune through his vast poultry company — becoming Europe’s biggest turkey processor, and is widely credited with bringing cheap turkey meat to the masses.

In a statement on his company’s website, chief executive Noel Bartram said: “I have personally known Bernard Matthews for well over 30 years, and on behalf of myself and my fellow colleagues, I wish to express our great sorrow and extend our thoughts and sympathies to the family.”

Matthews’s death, on the fourth Thursday of November, coincided with the US’s Thanksgiving — a celebration often referred to as “Turkey Day”.

The Bernard Matthews empire began with a humble £2.50 investment in 1950 with 12 turkey eggs and an incubator in the heart of Norfolk.

It grew into the biggest turkey processor in Europe.

Paying tribute to the man behind the controversial Turkey Twizzler, Bartram said: “Rarely has any business been as synonymous with the hard work and values of one man.

“It was Bernard Matthews who grew and developed this company through his entrepreneurial spirit, and clear focus.”

He added: “He is the man who effectively put turkey on the plates of everyday working families and in so doing became one of the largest employers in rural East Anglia and a major supporter of the local farming community.”

Matthews, the son of a mechanic, from Brooke in Norfolk, left school at 16 and went on to become a household name.

“In latter years he devoted himself to a host of charitable causes, often in an unsung manner,” Bartram said.

These included the independent Caister Lifeboat and the Nelson Museum in Great Yarmouth — a nod to his home county and love of the sea.

In recent years, Matthews became less involved in the day-to-day running of the company and in January this year, on his 80th birthday, he stepped down as group chairman.

“Despite yesterday’s very sad news the business will continue to thrive,” Bartram said.

Matthews attracted controversy with the Turkey Twizzler which sparked the wrath of celebrity chef Jamie Oliver who launched a crusade against the product during his campaign to improve school dinners.

The onslaught caused Matthews’s operating profits to tumble.

The company also was damaged by the 2007 outbreak of bird flu.

The company was accused of misleading the public and health authorities about importing meat from its plant in Hungary, just a few miles from a major outbreak of the H5N1 virus.