Falling turkey prices are making this year’s Thanksgiving feast a little easier on the wallet
Although Thanksgiving guest lists and grocery bills may ruffle some feathers, one thing to be thankful for this year is a drop in prices — especially turkey.
Even though the average cost of a complete Thanksgiving meal still reflects lingering inflation, prices for turkey have dropped significantly this fall, giving families a modest break just in time for the holiday season.
The average nationwide cost of a Thanksgiving feast for 10 people is $61.17 this year, down 4.5% from last year’s record $64.05, according to an annual survey by the American Farm Bureau Federation . It’s modest, but the bigger the family, the bigger the savings.
“The centerpiece on most Thanksgiving tables – the turkey – helped bring down the overall cost of dinner,” the Farm Bureau said in a press release, though many of the side dishes that come around this time of year — like cranberries and stuffing — also ticked downward.
Turkey production appears to be cheaper on the back-end too. Grocers paid suppliers an average of $19 for each fresh, medium-sized turkey this year, a plunge from last year’s $30, according to a Sun Sentinel analysis of U.S. Department of Agriculture data.
The good news for Floridians is frozen turkeys are cheapest in southeastern states, this week’s turkey retail report from the agriculture department shows.
According to the report, frozen turkeys averaged $1.05 per pound in the nine southeastern states, the lowest in the country this week. When compared with other regions of the U.S., shoppers in Florida can save anywhere from a few pennies to 80 cents per pound on their main course.
But if you prefer fresh over frozen, southeastern states including Florida pay more than other regions for fresh birds — averaging $2.07 per pound.
This year’s savings are largely attributed to the easing of avian flu epidemic, which ravaged poultry farms last year and drove egg prices sky-high nationwide. With Thanksgiving demand for turkeys high as ever, some farmers doubled down to replenish their flocks this year.
But no Thanksgiving spread would be complete without a cornucopia of side dishes — especially mashed potatoes. The price of white potatoes rose last year and now hang at $1.33 per pound, about 30 cents more than pre-pandemic levels.
And for those who save extra room for dessert, the cost to make a homemade pumpkin pie dipped slightly from nearly $19 to $17 this year, mostly due to a drop in the price of eggs. You can use the extra few dollars to buy a pint of whipped cream, which is averaging $1.73 this year according to the Farm Bureau survey.
