It will be cheaper to feed your clan this Thanksgiving than it has been since 2010, with the average cost of this year’s feast for 10 a little less than $5 a person, the American Farm Bureau Federation said of its 33rd annual survey. The average cost for a meal for 10 this year — $48.90 — is a 22-cent decline from last year’s average cost of $49.12.
The main reason is that the staple on many tables, turkey, is at its lowest retail price since 2014. A 16-pound bird costs about $21.71, or about $1.36 per pound, down 3 percent from last year, the organization said.
“Thanks to an ample supply, turkey remains affordable for consumers, which helps keep the overall cost of the dinner reasonably priced as well,” the American Farm Bureau Federation’s chief economist, John Newton, said in a news release.
The shopping list for the informal survey included turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, rolls with butter, peas, cranberries, a veggie tray, pumpkin pie with whipped cream, and coffee and milk, all in quantities sufficient to serve a family of 10 with leftovers to stretch into the weekend.
The average cost of milk ($2.92), a 3-pound bag of sweet potatoes ($3.39), a 1-pound bag of green peas ($1.47) and a dozen rolls ($2.25) also decreased this year, the survey showed. But some items will cost you more.
A 12-ounce bag of fresh cranberries cost an average of $2.65; a 30-ounce can of pumpkin pie mix was $3.33; a 14-ounce package of cubed bread stuffing was $2.87; two 9-inch pie shells cost $2.47; and a 1-pound vegetable tray was 75 cents. And the cost of everything else you need, including coffee, butter, evaporated milk, onions, eggs, sugar and flour went up slightly to $3.01.
A half-pint of whipping cream costs an average of $2.08, the same as it did last Thanksgiving.
Adding a few items, like a 4-pound bone-in ham, five pounds of Russet potatoes and a 1-pound bag of frozen green beans, will increase the cost of a meal to an average of $61.72, or about $6 per person.
And if you’re looking to have groceries for a traditional Thanksgiving meal delivered, prepare to pay about 50 percent. The cost of the turkey alone would cost $2 per pound when purchased from a food delivery service, and nearly every individual item was higher as well. That would put the total cost of a Thanksgiving dinner around $8 a person, according to the survey.
After adjusting for inflation, the cost of this year’s Thanksgiving dinner is $19.37, the most affordable in more than a decade.
For the survey, 166 volunteer shoppers in 37 states checked grocery store prices and reported the best prices. Promotional coupons and purchase deals were excluded.
Photo by Chris Robbins/Mood Board/Shutterstock