Your holiday feast will be a little less expensive this year, thanks to a price drop on Thanksgiving dinner essentials like turkey.
A Thanksgiving meal for 10 people will cost about $49.87, which is a $0.24 decrease from a year ago, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation’s (AFBF) annual informal price survey. In 2015, the Federation reported that the meal cost $50.11—the first time prices edged over the $50 mark.
The Federation found that a 16-pound turkey would cost $22.74 this year, or $1.42 per pound. Compared to last year, this represents a decrease of $0.02 per pound or a total of $0.30 per whole turkey. Milk, pumpkin-pie mix, carrots, celery, and “miscellaneous ingredients” will also cost less, according to the survey.
However, there are some items that saw a modest price hike: a dozen brown-and-serve rolls ($2.46); two nine-inch pie shells, ($2.59); one pound of green peas ($1.58); 12 ounces of fresh cranberries ($2.39); a half-pint of whipping cream ($2.00); a 14-ounce package of cubed bread stuffing ($2.67); and a three-pound bag of fresh sweet potatoes ($3.60).
Overall, consumers should expect to pay less than $5 per person for a “classic Thanksgiving dinner,” according to Dr. John Newton, the AFBF director of market intelligence.
“We have seen farm prices for many foods—including turkeys—fall from the higher levels of recent years,” Newton said in the press release. “This translates into lower retail prices for a number of items as we prepare for Thanksgiving and confirms that U.S. consumers benefit from an abundant, high-quality and affordable food supply.”
