Thanksgiving plans in the United States

More people will be staying home with small family groups and projecting a slight decrease in food and beverage consumption

The 21st wave of our ongoing study with AMC Global was released today. This current wave looked specifically at consumers’ projected Thanksgiving behavior in the United States compared to last year. During the COVID-19 pandemic, most study participants say they will be staying home for Thanksgiving, and any gatherings will include fewer people than last year. In terms of food and beverage consumption and purchasing, there is likely to be a slight dip in portions prepared and served.

You can see a full representation of the predicted Thanksgiving consumer behavior data here or click on the callout below.

Key findings for the week of November 2:

• Sixty-five percent of respondents will be hosting Thanksgiving in their own homes this year, compared to 46% in 2019. Only 27% will go to a family member’s house, compared to 45% in 2019.
• Gathering size for the 2020 U.S. Thanksgiving holiday will decrease as well. Thirty-eight percent of study participants plan on having gatherings with less than five people, compared to 17% in 2019. Only 12% are planning on gathering sizes of 11 to 15 people, compared to 27% in 2019.
• While most respondents project the same size/servings of food and beverage items for Thanksgiving, 28% are planning on fewer servings of appetizers, 29% fewer snacks, 28% fewer servings of desserts, 29% fewer hard seltzers/hard ciders, and 29% fewer spirits or mixed drinks.

A complete representation of the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday behavior data can be found here.