Having a Christmas gathering this year? The feast will cost more this year

Millions of Americans are gearing up for Christmas celebrations, with many planning to spend time with loved ones and cook food for the holiday. 

Nearly three quarters of American consumers celebrating Christmas have plans to get together with family and friends, and 33% will have people over, according to a Numerator survey. It also found 61% intend to cook or bake at their homes for the holiday. 

With Christmas quickly approaching, many of those planning to cook are likely readying their grocery lists – and pocketbooks – for the occasion. As a whole, a Christmas meal and gingerbread, a popular holiday treat, will be costlier in the U.S. this year thanks to popular ingredients experiencing year-over-year price increases, Expana reported. 

The commodity data provider said found prices for the main meal – measured by the Main Meal Index as part of its Christmas Dinner Index – posted a 2.3% jump from last year. It looked at turkey, pork, beef, shrimp, lamb, potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots and turnips. 

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That rise in price was "largely driven by higher prices for pork, lamb, shrimp and some vegetables," according to Expana’s report.  

All of the meats that Expana tracked for the Main Meal Index apart from turkey went up from last year. The cost of a 16-pound frozen turkey showed a 13.7% drop from last November, coming in at $1.07 per pound on average, it found. 

Per-pound prices for boneless lamb legs went up 9.2% from 2023, according to Expana. Bone-in hams and ¼-inch trimmed bone-in pork butts also rose in price, with the report finding the former posted a 8.3% rise and the latter 3.4%.

Of the vegetables in the Main Meal Index, sweet potato prices climbed the most, at 2.6%. Regular potatoes and turnips experienced smaller increases of 1.6% and 1.4%

Expana pegged the cost of carrots at 58 cents per pound, representing a decline of 19.2% year-over-year.

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Meanwhile, the report observed a lift of 5.5% in its Gingerbread Index consisting of wheat flour, sugar, butter, eggs, ginger and cassia. The jump was largely linked to costs of egg and sugar. 

The commodity data said its "benchmark Midwest Large quotation" came in at $4.29 per dozen on average in November, surging 97.5% compared to the same time last year. 

Bureau of Labor Statistics data found the average price of a dozen large Grade A eggs in U.S cities stood at $3.649 as of November, while they were $2.138 a year ago. 

Factors including "robust retail demand, holiday preparations, and persistent inflation, as well as avian influenza, have contributed to their higher costs, according to Expana. 

In addition to eggs and sugar, the spices ginger and cassia rose in cost, it found.

Butter and wheat, however, have become less expensive, by Expana’s measure. Their prices dropped 2.2% and 2%, respectively. 

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The Main Meal and Gingerbread Indices make up Expana’s Christmas Dinner Index. Taking the changes in cost of all the ingredients from each, Christmas meals and gingerbread have together posted a 2.4% increase from 2023, the report said. 

For the winter holidays, consumers will splash out $261 on food, candy, decorations and other non-gift items, according to separate data from the National Retail Federation.