Turkey will cost less this Thanksgiving, not the case for side dishes
MIAMI - Something wild has happened with turkey prices that's going to make the cost of cooking the Thanksgiving meal more palatable to families on a tight budget.
"I'm going to start early, I'm going to start right now," said Helen Pascua, she is one South Florida shopper already bracing for the hefty price tag of a turkey dinner.
Thanksgiving is in less than two weeks and just like Pascua, many shoppers are rushing to the stores and standing in long lines because of what they faced in 2022. "Prices are good this year because they have promotions," said Azucena Perez, as she started her grocery shopping for the big dinner.
American Farm Bureau Federation is saying that turkeys are 22% less than last year.
"The cost of the turkeys are down because they had a bird flu, over the last few years," said Craig Austin, an Associate Teaching Professor of Marketing and Logistics at Florida International University (FIU).
"The food items are up slightly because you're still having the supply chain issues," said Austin. He refers to items like cranberries at least 20% more than last year.
CBS News Miami went out to look at prices, we noticed Costco (for now) only offers fresh cranberries in a bag for a price tag of $3.99. At Publix, customers can get store-brand cranberry sauce for $2.09.
In Homestead, Meat Giant Supermarket, a family-owned store offers 14-ounce cranberry sauce for $2.79.
"Prices of turkey have gone down, prices are now from .80 to 1.19 a pound," told CBS News Miami Eddie Mormolejos, one of the owners of Meat Giant, he said buying parts of the turkey are now even cheaper than 2022. He reiterated that side dishes and other ingredients vary in price.
"Side dishes (for a whole meal) are 70 to 80 dollars and that's for a family of 4 so we are at a good state right now," said Marmolejos.
Experts are saying this year stores will offer more promotions which is good news for the consumers. Buying the turkey at a store does not mean everything should be purchased there.
If the goal is to save, shop around. 2023 is the year stores will compete to gain the consumers' business.