Shoppers preparing for a Thanksgiving feast could find this year’s grocery bill gobbling up more of their household budget.
Higher prices for dairy, such as milk and butter, serve as the primary driver behind the rising grocery bills consumers will face as they stock their shopping carts with a turkey and the trimmings, experts said.
The average cost of 15 items included in a traditional Thanksgiving meal jumped 7.3 percent from 2013, an annual Sunday Times survey of three supermarket chain suggested. The price for the items, including a 20-pound bird, totaled $53.96, up from $50.29 in 2013.
It marks the fourth increase in the survey since 2009, when the total bill was $49.77.
“A bulk of the items have gone up in price, so it’s not unusual for the cost of this year’s Thanksgiving dinner to increase,” said Annemarie Kuhns, an economist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. “Consumers, in general, can expect to pay about 3.3 percent more than last year based on the inflation for all grocery items.”
The Sunday Times survey, which started in 2007, includes the same products and calculates an average from prices provided by Gerrity’s, Wegmans and Price Chopper. Each chain offers products that may be lower in price than the averages.
“I would say dairy is absolutely what’s driving the higher cost this year more than anything,” said Jo Natale, a spokeswoman for Wegmans, which is based in Rochester, N.Y., and has stores in Dickson City and Wilkes-Barre Twp. “Miraculously, Thanksgiving dinner prices have remained pretty steady over the years.”
At-home food prices advanced 3.2 percent from September 2013 to September 2014, with double-digit percentage increases in the price of beef, veal and pork, according to the Consumer Price Index.
A growing demand for dairy products worldwide drove the cost of milk and butter up about 16 percent and 25 percent, respectively, over the last year, said Mona Golub, spokeswoman for Price Chopper, which is based in Schenectady, N.Y., and operates eight supermarkets in the region.
Meanwhile, the cost of both fresh and frozen turkey has jumped by about eight to 10 percent during the same time frame, she said.
“It’s a more significant increase (in turkey prices) than we’ve seen in a few years,” said Ms. Golub, who noted that grocers generally sell the turkeys at a deep discount from the purchase price.
Eight items in the survey increased in price, while five dropped and two stayed the same.
The cost of butter skyrocketed 39 percent from 2013, while milk and a 20-pound turkey saw about 10 percent increases. Major decreases included a 25 percent drop in chicken broth, a 21 percent decline in sweet potatoes and a 13 percent fall in pumpkin.
The annual survey includes several branded items, but omits sale prices, shopper-club specials and incentives.
“Dairy is the one thing supermarkets can’t control,” said Joe Fasula, co-owner of Gerrity’s Supermarket, which has nine grocery stores in Lackawanna and Luzerne counties. “We focus on keeping our prices very competitive with all the other stores, so people will still be able to have an affordable Thanksgiving.”
Contact the writer: miorfino@timesshamrock.com, @miorfinoTT on Twitter
