Thanksgiving dinner cost falls from 2022 record high
More consumers expected to purchase whole turkeys this year.
Gathering around the table for a Thanksgiving dinner won’t take as much of a toll on your pocketbook this year compared to 2022, but the meal still reflects historically high costs, according to The American Farm Bureau Federation’s (AFBF) 38th annual survey. The cost revealed by the survesy, which provides a snapshot of the average cost of this year’s classic holiday feast for 10, is $61.17 or less than $6.20 per person.
This is a 4.5% decrease from last year’s record-high average of $64.05, but a Thanksgiving meal is still 25% higher than it was in 2019, which highlights the impact high supply costs and inflation have had on food prices since before the pandemic.
The centerpiece on most Thanksgiving tables – the turkey – helped bring down the overall cost of dinner. The average price for a 16-pound turkey is $27.35. That is $1.71 per pound, down 5.6% from last year.
For the Farm Bureau survey, “volunteer shoppers” checked prices Nov. 1-6, before most grocery store chains began featuring whole frozen turkeys at sharply lower prices. According to USDA Agricultural Marketing Service data, the average per-pound feature price for whole frozen turkeys declined further during the second week of November. Consumers who have not yet purchased a turkey may find additional savings in the days leading up to Thanksgiving.
“Traditionally, the turkey is the most expensive item on the Thanksgiving dinner table,” said AFBF Senior Economist Veronica Nigh. “Turkey prices have fallen thanks to a sharp reduction in cases of avian influenza, which have allowed production to increase in time for the holiday.”
That lower price point may be part of the reason Cargill's recent U.S.-focused Future of Turkey study found more than 8 in 10 consumers plan to purchase a whole turkey this year. Another reason, Cargill added, may be a turnaround from the small gatherings that occurred during the pandemic.