US Thanksgiving meal costs up 14pc: Farm Bureau

US shoppers are facing a 14pc increase in the average cost of a Thanksgiving meal compared with last year, as consumer prices push to a 31-year high amid surging demand and logistical bottlenecks.

The average cost of a Thanksgiving meal for 10 people is estimated at $53.31, or less than $6/person, marking a 14pc jump from last year's average of $46.90, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation's annual survey.

The sharp increase from last year's meal stems from climbing prices for turkey, which rose by 24pc to about $23.99 for a 16-lb turkey, the Farm Bureau added.

Farm Bureau senior economics Veronica Nigh cited Covid-19-related disruptions to the domestic and global supply chains, which contributed to surging inflation and pressure to various supply chains during the last 20 months.

"The trend of consumers cooking and eating at home more often due to the pandemic led to increased supermarket demand and higher retail food prices in 2020 and 2021, compared to pre-pandemic prices in 2019," Nigh said in an 18 November statement.

Turkey slaughter and production this year lags last year's rates by about 3pc from 2020, according to the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), at a time consumer demand rebounds from a year ago. Turkey slaughter rates from January-October reached about 180.6mn head compared to 186.4mn head during the same period a year ago, weighing on full-year production estimates by about 2pc from last year to 5.6bn lbs.

Higher turkey prices could also stem from lower cold-storage inventories, which retracted by 19pc in October compared with the year prior, according to the USDA.

The Farm Bureau added rising costs in other key Thanksgiving foods also contributed to the year-over-year jump in overall meal costs, with non-turkey costs jumping by 6.6pc from a year ago — in line with increases in the US consumer price index.

US consumer prices jumped by 6.2pc in October from a year earlier, marking the largest annual increase since 1990, led by a 30pc gain in the energy price index, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The BLS food index increased by 5.3pc during the 12-month period.

By Connor Hyde