This year’s Thanksgiving feast is biting back as the ongoing supply chain crisis causes some holiday favorites to balloon in price, with turkeys now 27 per cent more expensive.
Nearly every dinnertime staple – from the popular roasting bird to pumpkins – have jumped in price year-over-year, leaving consumers with a heftier tab.
The price of a frozen 15-pound turkey will cost around $21.50 this year, up 27% from last year’s $16.95 price tag.
A three-pound bag of Russet potatoes cost $1.12 last week, a 13% year-over-year spike from the previous $0.99 cost, according to the US Department of Agriculture (USDA).
Other Thanksgiving standbys – including bread, beverages, carrots and more – are also more expensive ahead of the November 25 holiday.
The supply chain crisis has driven up prices across the spectrum, as port backlogs slow deliveries, labor shortages drive up wages, and demand for food rises.
The price of a frozen 15-pound turkey will cost around $21.50 this year, up 27% from last year’s
Supply chain-driven disruptions helped drive up the prices of of vegetables, booze, bread, juice, and wine ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday
Heather Garlich, of the Food Industry Association, said shoppers can expect to see short-term grocery price spikes for the next several due to supply-chain related inflation and heightened demand.
‘Grocers historically operate on slim 2% profit margins, and they are doing everything possible to avoid passing inflationary production costs onto shoppers,’ Garlich told DailyMail.com. ‘Also, competition in the grocery sector is fierce, and the battle for market share helps keep prices down for shoppers.’
‘The combination of all these challenges will continue to be disruptive and will create an uneven supply chain recovery, likely into 2022,’ she added.
‘But we ask that shoppers hold on as we continue to recalibrate. While we maintain resiliency in our global grocery supply chain, more time is needed to reach a new equilibrium.’
Shoppers (such as the one pictured in Detroit's Rivertown Market on October 6) can expect to see short-term grocery price spikes for the next several due to supply-chain related inflation and heightened demand, an expert says
A pound of green seedless grapes jumped 20% in price, costing $2.34 in October compared with $1.96 around this time last year, according to the USDA
Unlike last year’s Thanksgiving dinner expenses, which were down four percent, this year’s feast will come at a higher price.
A two-pound bag of carrots rang up for $1.71 last week, up 47% from last year’s $1.16 price.
(Notably, the crunchy veg dropped in price year-over-year when sold in by-the-pound increments.)
A pound of green seedless grapes jumped 20% in price, costing $2.34 in October compared with $1.96 around this time last year, according to the USDA.
This chart shows the rise and fall of food prices throughout the past three decades
Turkey farmers said earlier this month that the national labor shortage is impacting production, limiting capacity in processing and transport.
'I've been real worried about getting temporary help for the dressing season,' Robert Kauffman, a turkey farmer in Waterman, Illinois, told WBBM-TV.
He usually brings in about 100 temporary workers for Thanksgiving, but currently employed just seven people.
'I can dress with a skeleton crew but I don't like to. And I won't get the numbers I need. If I have a nice full dressing line, we can do maybe 2,500 birds a day. The pace I like to have,' said Kauffman, who raises about 60,000 turkeys a year.
Turkeys are seen at a farm in Johnston, Massachusetts in a file photo. Turkey farmers say that the national labor shortage is impacting production
Jayson Lusk, head of Purdue University’s agricultural economics department, said multiple factors are at play.
Strong demand both domestically and abroad have been pulling up prices, particularly in the meat categories, he said.
On the supply side, it’s become costlier to feed farm animals due to supply chain disruptions, and more expensive to hire workers, he said.
