Are you ready to pay more this holiday season? Food prices are still rising at an alarming rate, and our elaborate holiday feast is not immune to this. According to the Farm Bureau, the average cost of Thanksgiving dinner last year was $47, and this year it’s estimated to cost up to 5% more. Why? Here are a few reasons:

1. Disruptions in the supply chain

Food prices in the U.S. remain low most of the time because of how efficient our food chain runs, but when one segment of the chain is not as efficient, it affects the entire food chain. Right now, we’re seeing inefficiencies in multiple parts of the chain, specifically in moving, collecting, processing, producing, warehousing, distributing, and retailing. So, what does this do? Increase the prices.

2. Higher cost of materials

There are many different materials in a typical Thanksgiving dinner, and all of these materials are more expensive and continue to rise in price. For example, grains, oils, and oilseeds have significantly increased over the past year, which affects our bread, stuffing, and more. The price of corn has gone up, and since corn is fed to turkeys, the price of turkeys will rise, too. The cost of raising animals has also gone up.

3. Higher transportation costs

Remember during Covid when we would thank all of the truck drivers delivering our goods to us? Well, it seems we’ve since forgotten about them. But higher fuel costs and a lack of drivers contribute to the inflating food prices we’re seeing. Will this lack of drivers also cause a shortage? Probably not. But, it will definitely affect the cost of our food.

4. Labor

We’ve already talked about the labor shortage, and this shortage of willing workers is only driving costs up more. A lack of drivers, supply chain works, retail workers, and others contribute to both the inefficiency of the food chain and the rise in prices.

5. A more demanding consumer

After this last year, we’re all looking to capture the warm, fuzzy feelings that the holidays bring, especially since it’ll be the first one with our friends and family in over a year. We don’t want to make sacrifices and are willing to pay more, which is not a bad thing. But consumers are keeping the demand high, and supply simply cannot keep up.