Cost of Christmas dinner in US up over 15% with record inflation

By Ovunc Kutlu

ANKARA (AA) - The cost of Christmas dinner in the US has risen by more than 15% compared with last year, due to a rise in commodity prices and record high inflation.

US consumers will be paying 15.4% more year-on year for the commodities that typically go into their Christmas dinner, according to Mintec, the world’s leading independent provider of global pricing data and market intelligence on food ingredients and soft commodities.

While the commodities part of the main meal increased by 14.2% in November from the same month last year, dessert ingredient prices soared by 35.8%.

If consumers are vegan or they want to stay away from meat, prices for plant-based meal rose by 7.3%, Mintec data showed.

Pork and turkey comprise approximately 56% of the share in a typical US Christmas main meal, and their prices have been increasing.

Turkey prices are up around 20% year-on-year, according to the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). A 16-pound turkey costs around $1.41 per pound, up 23% from last year.

While pork and beef prices increased 9% each annually, veal and poultry prices gained 10% and 5.5%, respectively, from the previous year, according to the USDA data.

As for vegetables, the price of potatoes in the US is up by 17.8% in November from last year, while carrot prices soared by 27.7% and turnip prices rose by 8.9%, Mintec data revealed.

Rising fertilizer prices are also a major concern for American farmers, as they were up as much as 300% in some parts of the country, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation.

US consumer prices rose 6.8% in November on an annual basis, marking the largest 12-month increase since June 1982.

However, US producer prices skyrocketing 9.6% in November to their highest annual levels on record also indicates that consumer prices may climb well above their 39-year high in the coming months.

- Republican criticism

The Republican Party was quick to target President Joe Biden for the high cost of Christmas dinner and record high inflation.

"The price of a Christmas dinner is up 15.4% from last year! #Bidenflation," Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel wrote Friday on Twitter.

"Americans aren’t merry about the skyrocketing price of Christmas under Bidenflation," the RNC wrote on its official Twitter account. "If you’ve already heard a ‘ho, ho, ho’ this Christmas season, it’s not Santa. It’s Joe Biden laughing about how Bidenflation is hitting your wallet."

President Biden is partially responsible for the record inflation, however, as he continued the policies of his predecessor, Donald Trump -- printing trillions of dollars and providing liquidity for the markets and people during the coronavirus pandemic in order to prevent the American economy from grinding to a halt.

Biden, a Democrat, on Nov. 22 nominated Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, appointed by Trump, a Republican, to serve a second term as head of the central bank.

A week later, Powell shifted his dovish tone to a hawkish stance before Congress, vowing to use all the bank's tools to fight inflation.

The Fed on Dec. 15 removed the word "transitory" from its inflation description, deciding to double tapering of its asset purchases, and signaled three interest rate increases for 2022 in order to tame high inflation.