How consumers and restaurants are changing up Thanksgiving this year [Video]

Illustration by Marty McCake and Nico Heins

The Thanksgiving data started coming in as soon as trick-or-treaters collected their last piece of candy.

Market research firms, including Restaurant Business sister company Technomic, were busy polling consumers and restaurant operators to forecast how Thanksgiving 2023 will shape up. We’ve collected the stats and compiled this quick snapshot.

Despite the rising cost of restaurant food, Technomic found that 23% of consumers are likely to purchase a complete, ready-made Thanksgiving meal for pickup from a restaurant, while 22% may roast the bird themselves but will rely on restaurants for the trimmings.

However, those percentages are down from 2022 numbers, when 29% of respondents said they would buy both the full meal and some of the trimmings from a restaurant.

It’s actually cheaper to cook Thanksgiving at home this year compared to last. RB’s sister publication, Winsight Grocery Business, reported that the cost of a dinner for 10 is down 4.5%,…