Thanksgiving Feast Costs Ebb and Flow, Still Above Average in 2023

You may thank the turkey for saving money on your Thanksgiving feast preparation this year.

The most current statistics available from the U.S. indicates that the cost per pound of turkey dropped to $1.25 in September, down 43 cents from a year earlier. Agriculture Department.

A normal Thanksgiving dinner, with all the fixings, will cost somewhat less overall in 2022 than they did in 2022, when prices reached a record high.

Approximately $61.17 will be spent on dinner for ten people, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation.

While it is less than $64.05 from the previous year, it is more than $53.31 from 2021. The price of common side dishes including sweet potatoes, dinner rolls, green peas, and cranberries is included in those estimates.

According to Federation Senior Economist Veronica Nigh, a substantial drop in avian influenza occurrences last year caused supply to be curtailed, which is why prices for Turkey have dropped this year. In order to stop the "bird flu" pandemic from spreading, producers were forced to kill millions of hens and turkeys, which devastated poultry stocks across the United States.

Since then, Turkey's output has increased, the USDA said earlier this month.

According to market research firm Circana, consumers spent $2.8 billion more on food for Thanksgiving dinner last year than they would have in a typical week. According to market research firm Numerator, most consumers want to spend between $100 and $200 on their Thanksgiving feast this year.

Still, the supermarket aisle is still impacted by above-average inflation. According to a Wells Fargo Agri-Food Institute assessment, sweet potatoes are 4 percent more expensive than they were a year ago, but fresh cranberries are up 20 percent. Canned green beans have increased in price by 9% and russet potatoes by 14 percent, respectively.

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Rising Costs for Cranberries, Pumpkins, and Green Beans

Considering the remainder of the dish, cranberries may cost you a little more than they did the previous year depending on whether you get them fresh or canned.

According to the survey, canned cranberries will cost over 60% more than they did at the same time last year, while fresh cranberries will cost around 20% less. According to Swanson, the cost of labor and increased packaging is driving up the price of canned goods as a whole.

The situation with canned pumpkins is the same. According to Swanson, the cost of producing canned pumpkins is presently 30% more than it was last year, and some of the price rise for the fruit in cans gets passed on to customers.

According to the survey, the average cost of canned green beans has increased by roughly nine percent over the previous year.

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