Paying more for Thanksgiving dinner this year? You’re not alone

Denise Malette has noticed grocery prices rise over the past year, and it’s factored into her Thanksgiving plans.

Malette decided to host a “friendsgiving” potluck dinner Sunday, and was doing some last-minute shopping at an Ottawa Walmart to prepare.

“Us being hosts, we’re [covering] the meat and the potatoes and all that, and people are bringing appetizers,” she said.

While it takes a bit more co-ordination, Malette says a potluck dinner lets people bring food they enjoy making while also cutting down on her costs.

“There’s a bit of budgeting going about it, right? And making sure [guests are] comfortable paying a certain price [and can] pitch in with what we’re doing.”

It’s no surprise potlucks are in fashion this Thanksgiving, said Sylvain Charlebois, director of the Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University.

Prices for store-bought food rose by 6.9 per cent in August, Statistics Canada reported last month — down from an 8.5 per cent increase in July but still “elevated,” the agency said.

“I mean, everyone knows that food prices are higher,” Charlebois said. “So it’s not as uncomfortable to ask guests to bring a dish over along with them … just to share the financial burden of hosting.”

Aside from cranberries and tofu, almost all Thanksgiving dinner essentials are more expensive in 2023, Charlebois said.

The price of turkey, he said, has gone up about 18 per cent.

Rising prices, Charlebois said, will lead other trends at this year’s festivities. For one thing, food waste won’t be as common.

“If you go out to buy a 15-pound turkey, chances are you’re gonna eat the whole thing,” he said.

With turkey costing more, people might opt for pork instead, or stick with turkey and cut back on trimmings or side dishes, he added.

Grocery chains promise to rein in prices

Canada’s five largest grocery chains have outlined plans to stabilize food prices to the federal government, Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne announced on Oct. 5.

This comes after the heads of Loblaw, Sobeys, Metro, Costco and Walmart met with Champagne in Ottawa last month. The minister told them the government wanted to see their plans to stabilize prices by Thanksgiving.

The grocery chains are promising more discounts, price freezes and price-matching campaigns, Champagne said.

It’s all a relief to Sharon Goldhawk, who was also out shopping for Thanksgiving groceries on Sunday.

Her cart was filled with cookies, a turkey roll and two kinds of pie — pumpkin and strawberry-rhubarb — all of which Goldhawk said she found for better prices than she expected.

“I found the prices are improved. I’m very picky, I’m a comparison shopper. I kind of go up and down and look until I find the good price,” she said.

Goldhawk said she battles rising prices by hunting down good deals and adapting different shopping habits, like buying non-perishable items only when they’re on sale.

“Things that are fresh, it’s a different story. I tend to only buy what you can use, what you need for the week,” she said, adding she’s starting to buy more frozen food as well.

Goldhawk said she’ll be keeping a close eye on how grocery stores adjust their food prices, as they’ve promised.

“Go to another store, if you don’t see the price [you want], actually have them compete against each other. They aren’t competing as much as they should be.”