TURKEY-DINNER-COST--U

Thanksgiving Dinner Costs Rise 5.6%, Farm Group Says (Update1)

c.2008 Bloomberg News

(Adds prices for turkey and other food items starting in the fourth paragraph.)

By Jeff Wilson

Nov. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Thanksgiving dinner will be 5.6 percent more expensive this year, led by higher prices for turkey, pre-cooked rolls and cranberries, the American Farm Bureau Federation said.

For 10 people, the average cost of the 12 items typically served during the holiday meal will be $44.61, up from $42.26 last year, the Federation said today in an e-mailed statement. Adjusted for inflation, the meal will cost $20.65, down more than 8 percent since 1988, the farm group said. The U.S. celebrates Thanksgiving this year on Nov. 27.

"Food prices rode the energy price roller coaster up during the first half of 2008, and as the year winds down, energy prices have moderated somewhat but food prices have not come down," Jim Sartwelle, an economist for the farm group, said in the release. The dinner still costs less than most "value meals" at fast-food outlets, he said.

Turkey prices, up 8.3 percent, accounted for $1.46 of the $2.35 total increase in the cost of the meal. The national average price for a 16-pound bird is $19.09 this year, or $1.19 a pound, up 8.3 percent from a year ago, excluding grocer promotions or rebates, the Federation said.

More Turkeys

About 613.6 million pounds of frozen turkeys were in U.S. warehouses at the end of September, up 22 percent from a year earlier, Department of Agriculture data show. About 211 million turkeys were slaughtered in the first 10 months of the year, up 2.5 percent from the same period a year earlier.

The average wholesale price of whole turkeys was 92.91 cents a pound last week, down 3.8 percent from the same week a year ago, according to the USDA. The price was above year- earlier levels until mid-October.

The biggest percentage cost increase among the items needed for the dinner was for a 12-ounce package of pre-cooked rolls -- 16 percent -- followed by a 12 percent jump in the cost of a 12-ounce package of cranberries.

Other costs increases include 9.9 percent for a 30-ounce can of pumpkin-pie mix, 9 percent for a half-pint of whipping cream, 8.7 percent for two pie shells, 8.2 percent for a 16- ounce bag of frozen peas, and 7.1 percent for a 14-ounce bag of stuffing mix.