SUMMARY

Americans are ready to get festive this year at Thanksgiving. Big celebrations are back, with hosts planning an average of nearly eight guests. And 76% of respondents to a new IRI survey report that they’ll return to their pre-pandemic Thanksgiving celebration trends.

The bad news is that the festivities could gobble gobble up some savings too, with costs of the traditional Thanksgiving meal up an estimated 13.5% over a year ago. IRI’s new Thanksgiving Tracker shares the latest data on consumer plans for the holiday as people balance their desire to return to normalcy with the pressures of ongoing high food inflation.

Highlights

1. Gen Z and millennials under age 32 who plan to host will average 9.8 guests, more than the overall average of 7.4 people.

2. More shoppers say they’ll start their Thanksgiving shopping earlier than usual due to inflation.

3. 38% of shoppers say they expect to pay more for Thanksgiving groceries this year but will still buy the same amount.

4. The run-up to Thanksgiving boosts sales considerably for foods across many categories.

Read Report