NEW YORK — As Thanksgiving approaches in under two weeks, major grocery retailers such as Walmart, Target, and Aldi are ramping up competition to capture consumers’ attention with special turkey dinner deals and various promotions. This push comes as many Americans are still grappling with the effects of recent food price inflation.

Walmart, the largest food retailer in the United States, initially introduced a bundled meal deal featuring traditional Thanksgiving fare three years ago. This year, they are offering a 29-item package that includes a frozen turkey and all the essentials for side dishes, priced at under $55. This deal is designed to serve eight people, equating to less than $7 per individual.

Meanwhile, Target has created its own Thanksgiving meal package tailored for four people, priced at $20, which is $5 cheaper than their offering last year. This bundle features a frozen turkey along with stuffing mix, canned green beans, and canned jellied cranberry sauce. Aldi’s Thanksgiving deal includes a frozen Butterball turkey, gravy mix, and ingredients for both pumpkin pie and side dishes like sweet potato casserole, all for $47, which is actually lower than the price for similar items in 2019.

Meijer, a Midwest grocery chain featuring over 500 supercenters, also entered the Thanksgiving fray with an attractive offer of frozen turkeys priced at 49 cents per pound or lower. Additionally, they are providing a $37 Thanksgiving meal plan that serves four to six people.

Comparing the various Thanksgiving meal options among these chains to determine the best value is a challenge, given the differences in portion sizes and items included. However, the early introduction of these promotions signifies their importance to grocery retailers, particularly as inflation continues to inhibit consumer spending. Analysts highlight that Thanksgiving shopping plays a crucial role in boosting sales for stores.

Jason Goldberg, chief commerce strategy officer at Publicis Groupe, noted that consumer perceptions of grocery costs are often based on staple items like eggs and milk, but now the Thanksgiving meal has emerged as a new standard metric. The holiday ranks as the second-largest meal occasion for retailers, with a sales increase of $2.4 billion recorded in the week preceding and following Thanksgiving last year. This figure pales in comparison to the $5.3 billion sales boost observed around Christmas, Hanukah, and New Year’s meal shopping, according to market researchers at Circana.

Walmart launched its Thanksgiving bundle early, on October 14, and will offer it through December 24. The retailer’s selections this year are touted to be 3.5% less expensive than their offerings from the previous year. Joan Driggs, a vice president at Circana, anticipates that shoppers will primarily take advantage of discounts for about half the items needed for Thanksgiving dinners, a stark increase from 2022 when retailers were more cautious with promotions due to lingering supply issues from the pandemic.

Driggs remarked that shoppers have yet to see the deep discounts typical of pre-pandemic pricing seen in 2019. To entice customers, retailers are adopting strategies such as meal bundles, which provide clarity on the cost per person and are intended to alleviate some of the stress involved with holiday shopping.

During a visit to a Walmart in Secaucus, New Jersey, 24-year-old Angel Rosario-Sanchez expressed his plans to celebrate Thanksgiving with friends but had yet to shop for groceries. The holiday displays in the store sparked his interest in returning to make purchases. He commented on his reliance on Walmart for deals and expressed a desire for prices to return to previous levels due to inflationary concerns.

In recent years, retailers like Walmart and Target have noticed a shift in consumer purchasing, leading customers to opt for private store brands. In response, these retailers have enhanced their offerings or introduced new lines to appeal to value-conscious consumers. Walmart’s launch of its new store-brand line, Bettergoods, aims to attract younger shoppers looking for higher-quality, chef-inspired food at more affordable prices.

However, the cost comparisons between store brands and national brands for Thanksgiving essentials reveal mixed results. According to Wells Fargo’s Agri-Food Institute, certain name-brand products, such as cranberry sauce, are now less expensive than their store-brand counterparts, while the prices for both name-brand and store-brand pumpkin pies are comparable.

Robin Wenzel, the head of the Wells Fargo institute, indicated that some brand-name manufacturers might be adjusting their prices downward after realizing they had priced their products too high during the post-pandemic recovery period. Their Thanksgiving menu options, which include turkey, stuffing, salad, cranberries, dinner rolls, and pumpkin pie, showcase that a complete meal using name-brand items averages $90, slightly less than last year’s price. In contrast, a similar meal using store-brand products is estimated at $73, slightly higher than the previous year’s costs.

The latest inflation report indicates a minimal rise of just 0.1% in grocery prices from September to October, marking a 1.1% increase over the past year. This provides some respite for consumers reeling from a prior surge of nearly 23% in food prices over the last three years.

Despite some prices beginning to plateau, it remains uncertain whether consumers will feel the impact of these changes. For instance, the average cost of a 15-item Thanksgiving meal this year is about $65.51, showing a decrease of almost 3% compared to last year, although it remains 42% higher than in 2019. Specific items, such as a 12-ounce can of jellied cranberry sauce, are currently priced at about $2.89, reflecting a slight reduction from last year but still representing a staggering 90% increase compared to 2019.

A 10-pound frozen turkey costs approximately $10.40 this year, reflecting a 19% drop from the previous year but still 6% more than in 2019. Conversely, some Thanksgiving-related products continue to witness price hikes; for example, a 30-ounce box of pumpkin pie mix averages $5.56, which is an increase of 6% year-over-year, and nearly 70% higher than five years ago, as reported by market analysis firm Datasembly.

Walmart’s Thanksgiving bundle presents a combination of both store and name-brand products; for instance, it includes Ocean Spray canned jellied cranberry sauce and Great Value green beans and dinner rolls. It also features a Shady Brook Farms whole frozen turkey and fresh ingredients like a 5-pound bag of russet potatoes.

However, many shoppers may still choose to bypass these bundles. During her visit to Walmart in Secaucus, 70-year-old Nadia Rivest mentioned that she had already purchased turkey, fish, and chicken for her Thanksgiving gathering but was looking for fresh produce rather than canned goods. “I prefer fresh items like red peppers and tomatoes,” she stated.