DENVER (KDVR) — With fewer families expected to gather for Thanksgiving this year, you better bet things are going to look a lot different.
Not only will group sizes be smaller, but the size of your turkey likely will too.
“We’re selling more of the smaller turkeys,” said Don Peterson, owner of Peterson’s Turkey Farm in Denver.
Don Peterson’s family has been selling turkeys for the holidays since 1932.
In the decades since, this very well could be the first year people have been requesting tinier turkeys.
“We’ve run into people wanting more smaller turkeys than the bigger ones. We used to sell – a big part of our turkeys was 16, 17, 18 pound hens. And this year we’re practically out of 10 pound ones right now,” Peterson said.
That trend is happening all over Colorado and the United States.
According to a brand new consumer survey from Numerator, 70% of Americans plan to celebrate Thanksgiving differently this year.
Companies like Butterball and Hormel Foods found 30% of respondents to one of their surveys plan to host only their immediate family.
That’s up from 18% in 2019.
Colorado area food markets are requesting smaller turkeys too to accommodate requests.
“The smaller stores seem to be wanting about as many turkeys, but smaller,” Peterson said.
Peterson also said you should expect to pay an extra ten cents for your turkey this year.