Thanksgiving might still be a couple weeks away, but for those of us who are in charge of hosting Thanksgiving dinner, the preparations are probably already in order. This is especially true this year, since it is essential that we get on top of pre-ordering certain main dishes as there might be some shortages this holiday season. One of those big shortages being the turkey. Eek!
One of the leading sellers of turkeys, Butterball, released a report that shared how there might be a bit of a shortage amongst the smaller turkeys that wight between 10-14 pounds, so they encourage people to get your bird early.
The CEO of Butterball, Hay Jandrain, shared with Good Morning America that heavier turkeys – those that weigh more than 16 pounds – are much easier to come by as most of these turkeys live at their farms for longer, therefore they grow bigger and spend less time facing certain labor and transport challenges than the smaller turkeys. Granted, these labor and transport challenges are also a problem that has been brought on by the current COVID-19 pandemic.
While getting your turkey might seem to be a pressing issue, if you’re a huge fan of cranberry sauce then you also might be wanting to get ahead of the curve. One of the big producers of cranberry products, Ocean Spray, shared with ABC News that their company is facing a shortage of aluminum cans as well as transportation issues, meaning we might see fewer cranberry cans in stock at the grocery stores in the coming weeks.
Similarly, ready-made pies, bakery pies, and gravy might also be scarce this year. Alternatively, we might see an increase in the price tags as the president of client engagement at IRI, Krishnakumar Davey, shared with Good Morning America that these holiday foods have seen a 5-10% pricing increase since last year.
It is looking like this might be the year to look at potential substitutions for certain ingredients or recipes. Granted, if you’re not one for substitutions or eliminations, then you definitely want to get to your supermarket sooner rather than later.
Have you started noticing Thanksgiving shortages? What is your solution for this year’s problems? Let us know!