With weeks until Thanksgiving, a new agriculture report that compared prices of generic store brands and national name brand products shows signs of hope for shoppers looking to save money on this year's moveable feast.
The Wells Fargo Agri-Food Institute, led by Dr. Michael Swanson -- the team's Chief Agriculture Economist -- tracked how much all the key ingredients needed to make a classic Thanksgiving menu will cost home cooks this year in an effort to help them find the best value.
While it's no secret generic store brands often cost less than big name products, Swanson found that’s not necessarily the case when it comes to the dishes for your Thanksgiving table.
"Turns out, a store brand menu to feed 10 friends and family members yields a total savings of $17.10," the annual report, which was released Tuesday, stated. "In several categories, the name brand products are actually less expensive than the store brand, and in others, prices are almost the same. This gives shoppers the option to mix and match depending on tastes and brand loyalty."
The analysts worked off of a base menu for 10 people that includes turkey, stuffing, salad, cranberries, dinner rolls and pumpkin pie and found that with name brand products, the meal would cost $90, which is down 0.5% from last year.
The same meal prepared with store brand items would cost $73, which while less than the above total, is up 2.7% from last year for the same products.
"Within the grocery store, name brand and store brand food products dance a daily tango in an effort to find the perfect balance between preference and cost competitiveness," the report stated.
Check out the full holiday menu pricing breakdown below to determine the best move for your holiday table budget.
Turkey: Marginal difference for the MVP of the table
Starting with the centerpiece poultry, Swanson found fresh turkey prices have remained nearly unchanged since last year, but name brand turkeys -- which account for three of four birds sold -- decreased in price by 2% since 2023. Store brand birds are cheaper on paper, but those prices are actually up by nearly 5% compared to last year, according to Wells Fargo Agri-Food Institute.
"The total price difference between a 16-pound name brand bird and store brand bird is just a couple of dollars, so it’s unlikely that this small price differential for the holiday’s most valuable player will greatly shift the decision to store brand over name brand," the report concluded.
Stuffing: Slightly cheaper for store brand
If you're opting to make the ever-popular side dish from a box vs. toasting up some rustic bread and making it from scratch, the experts found in looking solely at prepared mixes that the seasonal purchase "is still on the rise thanks to the trailing costs of labor and transportation."
"The name brand category is up 9% from the same period a year ago, and the store brand is up 3%," the report stated.
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Cranberries: Booming bog harvest is a win for brand names
The current harvest for the slightly sweet and tart side is expected to be 2% larger than in 2023. And with name brands owning the larger share of sales, it's the lower-priced option.
"A 12-ounce bag of name brand fresh cranberries is down 3% -- while the same size bag of store brand cranberries is up 6%."
Salad, Dinner Rolls: Save with store brands
When looking at pre-packaged salad mixes, Wells Fargo found "the cost differential between the name brand and store brand is about $3 in favor of the store brand."
"It is likely that the cost-conscious consumer already chooses the store brand, since the market for this category is split 50/50 in terms of sales between the two."
When it comes to the bakery section, both name brand and store brand dinner rolls are up 3% due to food inflation post-COVID.
Wells Fargo found a significant price difference between a couple of dozen dinner rolls, yielding almost $4 in savings between the brand and generic labels -- "with store brand generating the most savings."
The big caveat, however, has to do with the quality, which experts said "can be very noticeable in some categories," so it's up to individual palate preferences.
Pies consistently priced no matter how you slice it
The seasonal dessert showed prices up 1% for name brands and 3% for generic.
So the experts found that with both around "essentially the same price for an 8-inch pumpkin pie," this category is at the discretion of the dessert decision maker.
"If consumers prefer a brand name versus a store brand, it won’t hurt the budget. However, some name brands versus private labels can be big price exceptions, so consumers should keep their eyes open for opportunities like deals and discounts through smart research," the report stated.
