Thanksgiving dinner will cost Americans 14% more this year, the survey shows
The largest ticket item – Turkey – is up 24% since last year. But there are some reservations. Grocery stores began announcing lower prices later than usual this year. For example, if you traded a turkey in week 5-11. November, you could have paid 18% more than the week after 1[ads1]2-18. November, found the American Farm Bureau. That means shoppers can still find cheaper turkeys than the Farm Bureau’s estimate of $ 23.99 for a 16-pound bird.
“Taking turkey out of the food basket reveals a price increase of 6.6% compared to last year, which closely follows the consumer price index for food and general inflation in the whole economy,” said Nigh.
The full price of the Thanksgiving meal includes other staples such as stuffing, sweet potatoes, rolls with butter, peas, cranberries, a vegetable tray, pumpkin pie with whipped cream and coffee and milk – with enough leftovers, according to the American Farm Bureau.
Turkey saw the sharpest increase in price, followed by pie pairs up 20% and dinner rolls up 15% to $ 3.05 for a dozen. Stuffing was the only item that fell in price – down 19% from the previous year to $ 2.29 for a 14-ounce bag of cubes for filling mix, the survey showed.
In terms of availability, US Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack told CNN earlier this month: “There may be situations across the country where a particular grocery store may not have as many turkeys as needed. At the end of the day, there will be a lot of food on Thanksgiving plates for Americans. “
The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that Americans will spend nearly 5% more on the Thanksgiving meal this year. But the agency did not specify how many people this would feed and track a smaller basket of goods than the one in the American Farm Bureau Federation survey.
“We know that even small price increases can make a difference to family budgets, and we do everything we can to curb it. The good news is that the best turkey producers in the country are sure that everyone who wants a bird for their Thanksgiving dinner will be able to get one, and a big one will only cost $ 1 more than last year, “Vilsack said on Wednesday, referring to improvements in the food supply chain in recent weeks.
This is the 36th year of the American Farm Bureau Federation survey has been performed using price data for the same menu items from all 50 states and Puerto Rico. Volunteer Farm Bureau customers also checked prices in person and online by using grocery store apps and websites to find the best possible prices without using promotions or offers.
