Thanksgiving food trends signaled healthier supply chains

But just like food-staple prices varied this Thanksgiving by category, current supply chain stresses vary by industry.

Domestic food supply chains are getting stronger but global supply chains remain threated by bad actors online. (Credit:5m3photos/Adobe Stock)

This year’s Thanksgiving turkey cost 16% less than in 2022, cranberries were about 20% less, and some leafy greens were 10% cheaper this year, according to an agricultural economics report released by Wells Fargo in the run up to Turkey Day.

Although some other Thanksgiving staples cost more this year, and consumers overall are paying record high prices at the grocery store, food supplies are back to pre-pandemic levels, food economists report, signally stronger health than the global supply chain has seen in years.

Supply chain disruptions that began with the COVID-19 pandemic increased business costs and losses as well as business interruption claims. While global supply chains are still impacted by inflation and geopolitical stress, this year’s Thanksgiving food prices provided reasons for optimism.

But just like the prices of Thanksgiving food staples varied this year by category — ham was 5% more expensive this year than in 2022 — current supply chain stresses vary by industry. Financial institutions and defense companies, for instance, have been targeted in recent weeks by hackers looking to capitalize on Zero-day and N-day vulnerabilities. Their goals, according to The Register, a technology news outlet, are “generating funds, espionage, and the theft of intellectual property and advanced technologies.”

“In an increasingly digital and interconnected world, software supply chain attacks can have profound, far-reaching consequences for impacted organizations,” Paul Chichester, director of operations at the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre, told The Register.

However Wells Fargo reports that the food industry is largely operating at full speed thanks to increased staffing and automation. What’s more, the U.S. federal government has taken an active role in shoring up food supply chain problems through such measures as infrastructure construction on and along the nation’s major highways.

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