Thanksgiving dinner costs more this year, and it might not get cheaper for Christmas
Finding a turkey of your liking and other fixings for a traditional Thanksgiving meal may have been more challenging and expensive this year. Don’t plan on Christmas being cheaper.
“I think there’s plenty of turkeys,” supply chain expert Evan Nash, director of purchasing at Johnson & Wales University in Charlotte, told the Observer. “It’s about getting them to the table.”
The average price for a 16-pound turkey is $23.99 this year, according to the American Farm Bureau. That’s roughly $1.50 per pound, a 24% increase from last year. Other goods for holiday meals have increased at least 5% increase, Nash said.
A meal for 10 people will cost $53.31, which is up nearly 14% compared to last year’s average of $46.90, according to the American Farm Bureau. That’s the second-largest increase in 36 years. In 2019, the average cost was about $48.
“Your overall cost for a meal is going to be a little more,” Nash said. “Your proteins are going to be your biggest expense.”
Christmas could be just as expensive, Nash said.
The higher prices for turkeys and other goods for holiday feasts stem from increasing demand and products not being delivered or stocked, Nash said.
Trucker shortage
The U.S. hasn’t been importing turkeys from other countries unlike other goods, Nash said. But he points to a longstanding issue that’s only worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“There’s been a problem with trucking for several years now in terms of finding drivers,” he said.
In 2020, trucks hauled 10.23 billion tons of freight, representing 72.5%of domestic cargo shipments, according to the American Trucking Association. There’s been a freight backlog this year that’s intensified strains in the trucking industry over hours, pay, working conditions and retention.
The industry hit a “historic high” this year: It’s just over 80,000 drivers short of the workers needed to keep goods moving freely — up from an estimated pre-pandemic shortage of 61,500 drivers, according to the trucking group.
The hope is that the supply chain returns to normal by the third quarter of 2022, but the trucking problem is expected to persist, Nash said.
Be more ‘flexible’
Since the bigger turkeys aren’t getting to the stores, consumers might have to buy smaller ones this year because they’ll be more abundant, Nash said. Last Thanksgiving, holiday chefs bought smaller turkeys because large gatherings were discouraged because of the pandemic.
“You may not find the exact size turkey you want, but it’s going to be available,” Nash said.
Buying smaller turkeys is one thing consumers can do to be more “flexible” during the holidays, Nash said. He also encourages people to go to different stores to buy the items they need to avoid overspending and help find the best prices.
“I can’t go to one store and find everything,” Nash said. “I’m going to go to three or four stores.”
Making foods from scratch is another option that could possibly reduce costs and the headache of not finding certain items in stores, Nash said. Gravy, for example, can be easily made at home with just a few easy-to-find ingredients, he said.
“People need to be more flexible, and that’s the same thing with Christmas,” Nash said.
Although some goods might be hard to find, consumers shouldn’t overbuy and stock up because it’ll only exacerbate the problem.
“Buy one, don’t buy three,” he said.
