Thanksgiving by the numbers: 91% of consumers plan to celebrate

November 17, 2023 - General News, Press Release

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CHICAGO, Nov. 16, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Numerator, a data and tech company serving the market research space, has released new data on Thanksgiving 2023, sourced from verified purchase data and a sentiment survey of 4,500 consumers on their 2023 holiday intentions. Nearly all U.S. consumers say they plan to celebrate Thanksgiving, with 88% planning to purchase food and 33% planning to purchase alcohol. While the majority of these shoppers plan to include turkey on their menus, household penetration for Thanksgiving turkey is likely to return to pre-pandemic levels.

Thanksgiving 2023 Consumer Sentiment Findings:

• Over 9 in 10 consumers plan to celebrate Thanksgiving 2023. At least 91% of consumers plan to celebrate Thanksgiving this year, with another 5% still undecided.
  • More consumers plan to cook and travel this year compared to last Thanksgiving. While most celebration plans remained about the same as last year, more consumers say they will cook or bake this year (61% vs. 54% in 2022) and travel for the holiday (16% vs. 11% in 2022). About the same number of consumers plan to attend or host gatherings this year (61% vs. 63% in 2022).
  • Location and generation impact consumers’ celebration plans. Gen Z and Millennials are the most likely generations to say they plan to travel this Thanksgiving (21%), while consumers in the Midwest are most likely to attend or host gatherings (70%).
• Nearly 3 in 5 Thanksgiving shoppers plan to buy turkey. Almost all celebrants (88%) say they plan to purchase food for Thanksgiving, with the most popular items being turkey or turkey breast (59%), dinner rolls or bread (54%), holiday pies (52%), stuffing/dressing (50%) and vegetables (48%).
• Consumers in western states are more likely to opt for turkey alternatives, while older generations stick to the classics. Consumers in the Western U.S. are twice as likely to purchase seafood or meat alternatives for Thanksgiving, compared to other regions. Older generations are more likely to purchase turkey, and Boomers+ are twice as likely to purchase cranberry sauce, compared to other generations.
• Traditional grocery stores are poised to capture the majority of Thanksgiving spend. More than three-quarters (76%) of consumers plan to buy their Thanksgiving items at grocery stores, followed by mass retailers like Walmart or Target (37%) and club retailers such as Costco or Sam’s Club (29%).
• One-third of consumers plan to buy alcohol for Thanksgiving – with wine the top choice.  Among those who plan to purchase alcoholic beverages for their celebrations, 70% plan to buy wine, followed by beer (57%) and spirits (28%).

Consumer Purchase Data Findings:

• Brands like Stove Top, Cool Whip, and Jiffy see 3-4X growth in household penetration leading up to Thanksgiving. In the two weeks prior to Thanksgiving 2022, the brands that experienced the largest spikes in penetration (compared to the two weeks following Thanksgiving) were Stove Top (4.5x), Cool Whip (3.4x), Jiffy (3.3x), Butterball (3.2x), French’s (3.2x), Reddi-Wip (2.7x), Ocean Spray (2.6x), Carnation (2.5x), Libby’s (2.4x), King’s Hawaiian (2.3x), Swanson (2.3x) and Bob Evans (2.1x).
• Turkey buying is returning to pre-pandemic norms. In the month leading up to Thanksgiving 2019, 29.7% of U.S. households purchased turkey. For Thanksgiving 2020, penetration spiked to 37% of households, as consumers stayed home and took up cooking and baking hobbies during the pandemic. Penetration has been steadily declining since 2020 (33.6% in 2021 and 31.1% in 2022).

Numerator’s 2023 Q4 2023 Holiday Preview survey was fielded to 4,496 US consumers in September 2023. Brand level data is sourced from Numerator Insights for the period 11/9/22-11/23/22. Turkey household penetration data was pulled using Numerator Insights for the 31-day period prior to Thanksgiving for 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022. 

About Numerator:

Numerator is a data and tech company bringing speed and scale to market research.  Numerator blends first-party data from over 1 million US households with advanced technology to provide 360-degree consumer understanding for the market research industry that has been slow to change. Headquartered in Chicago, IL, Numerator has 2,000 employees worldwide; 80 of the top 100 CPG brands’ manufacturers are Numerator clients.

CHICAGO, Nov. 16, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Numerator, a data and tech company serving the market research space, has released new data on Thanksgiving 2023, sourced from verified purchase data and a sentiment survey of 4,500 consumers on their 2023 holiday intentions. Nearly all U.S. consumers say they plan to celebrate Thanksgiving, with 88% planning to purchase food and 33% planning to purchase alcohol. While the majority of these shoppers plan to include turkey on their menus, household penetration for Thanksgiving turkey is likely to return to pre-pandemic levels.

Thanksgiving 2023 Consumer Sentiment Findings:

• Over 9 in 10 consumers plan to celebrate Thanksgiving 2023. At least 91% of consumers plan to celebrate Thanksgiving this year, with another 5% still undecided.
  • More consumers plan to cook and travel this year compared to last Thanksgiving. While most celebration plans remained about the same as last year, more consumers say they will cook or bake this year (61% vs. 54% in 2022) and travel for the holiday (16% vs. 11% in 2022). About the same number of consumers plan to attend or host gatherings this year (61% vs. 63% in 2022).
  • Location and generation impact consumers’ celebration plans. Gen Z and Millennials are the most likely generations to say they plan to travel this Thanksgiving (21%), while consumers in the Midwest are most likely to attend or host gatherings (70%).
• Nearly 3 in 5 Thanksgiving shoppers plan to buy turkey. Almost all celebrants (88%) say they plan to purchase food for Thanksgiving, with the most popular items being turkey or turkey breast (59%), dinner rolls or bread (54%), holiday pies (52%), stuffing/dressing (50%) and vegetables (48%).
• Consumers in western states are more likely to opt for turkey alternatives, while older generations stick to the classics. Consumers in the Western U.S. are twice as likely to purchase seafood or meat alternatives for Thanksgiving, compared to other regions. Older generations are more likely to purchase turkey, and Boomers+ are twice as likely to purchase cranberry sauce, compared to other generations.
• Traditional grocery stores are poised to capture the majority of Thanksgiving spend. More than three-quarters (76%) of consumers plan to buy their Thanksgiving items at grocery stores, followed by mass retailers like Walmart or Target (37%) and club retailers such as Costco or Sam’s Club (29%).
• One-third of consumers plan to buy alcohol for Thanksgiving – with wine the top choice.  Among those who plan to purchase alcoholic beverages for their celebrations, 70% plan to buy wine, followed by beer (57%) and spirits (28%).

Consumer Purchase Data Findings:

• Brands like Stove Top, Cool Whip, and Jiffy see 3-4X growth in household penetration leading up to Thanksgiving. In the two weeks prior to Thanksgiving 2022, the brands that experienced the largest spikes in penetration (compared to the two weeks following Thanksgiving) were Stove Top (4.5x), Cool Whip (3.4x), Jiffy (3.3x), Butterball (3.2x), French’s (3.2x), Reddi-Wip (2.7x), Ocean Spray (2.6x), Carnation (2.5x), Libby’s (2.4x), King’s Hawaiian (2.3x), Swanson (2.3x) and Bob Evans (2.1x).
• Turkey buying is returning to pre-pandemic norms. In the month leading up to Thanksgiving 2019, 29.7% of U.S. households purchased turkey. For Thanksgiving 2020, penetration spiked to 37% of households, as consumers stayed home and took up cooking and baking hobbies during the pandemic. Penetration has been steadily declining since 2020 (33.6% in 2021 and 31.1% in 2022).

Numerator’s 2023 Q4 2023 Holiday Preview survey was fielded to 4,496 US consumers in September 2023. Brand level data is sourced from Numerator Insights for the period 11/9/22-11/23/22. Turkey household penetration data was pulled using Numerator Insights for the 31-day period prior to Thanksgiving for 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022. 

About Numerator:

Numerator is a data and tech company bringing speed and scale to market research.  Numerator blends first-party data from over 1 million US households with advanced technology to provide 360-degree consumer understanding for the market research industry that has been slow to change. Headquartered in Chicago, IL, Numerator has 2,000 employees worldwide; 80 of the top 100 CPG brands’ manufacturers are Numerator clients.