Thanksgiving Shortages!

You might have trouble finding some of the traditional Thanksgiving Day dishes this year! Grocery stores are already running low on smaller turkeys, cranberry sauce and sweet potatoes. Butterball CEO Jay Jandrain told “Good Morning America” that “Typically a 10 to 12 pound [turkey] up to 14 pounds is going to be more difficult. Anything over 16 pounds — they’ll certainly be more readily available,”. He went to say that “We recommend that if you’re looking for a smaller bird you get out early. We are already seeing some pretty brisk sales at the retail level, particularly with regard to the smaller turkeys,” he continued. “Really it’s brought about because of the challenges we’ve all experienced with COVID and the labor shortages that we’ve had.” According to a new report, stores have 39% as many turkeys as they normally would, 80% as much cranberry sauce, and 75% as many sweet potatoes.

For this year the best advice is to shop early and get a bigger bird. You’ll have plenty of leftovers!

Happy Thanksgiving!

— Doug O’Brien