Thanksgiving food shopping: Why are grocery prices so high?

SICKLERVILLE, Pa. – The sounds of scanners are constant at Grocery Outlet in Sicklerville with many trying to get an early start to Thanksgiving food shopping. 

For Margaret Mazoki the trip started with a focus on Thanksgiving. 

“The shrimp are for that, the potatoes, and the cheeses but then I’ll be back the beginning of the next week for the fresh vegetables,” said Margaret Mazoki of Washington Township.

That focus quickly changed to non-Thanksgiving items because of deals, especially on meat. 

“The brisket, it’s only 17 bucks, it’s a nice piece and that’s really a good price,” said Mazoki.

Which the lower prices are what attracted Kathy Connolly of Mantua.

“We got the mash potatoes already and we got the turkey for $3.99,” says Connolly.

Connolly says this second Thanksgiving grocery run was to purchase items to donate. 

“I saw the sale and I said for $3.99 and spend $35, you can’t beat that. A family out there needy could really use this, I don’t have a whole lot, but I can do that,” says Connolly.

We sat down with Joshua Mask an Assistant Professor of Instruction in the Economics Department at Temple University. 

He says right now grocery prices are up 1.1% overall, but cost have gone down for certain items.

“Turkey prices on average to fell to about 36 percent so, we do see some falling prices in individual items but overall grocery prices are higher than they were this time last year,” says Mask.

With that being said, Mask says every year since the pandemic there has been troubles that cause prices to increase, such as supply chain shortages or bird illnesses, so things right now are pretty normal. 

Mask says, “What we’re saying now is what we were expecting to see in 2016, 2017, 2018, like just a normal supply and demand market that doesn’t have any wild distortions.”