TORONTO – Butterball, Canada’s leading turkey brand, released data from its 2022 Thanksgiving and Holiday outlook report which revealed Canadians are ready to get back to Thanksgiving and holiday celebrations. With many pausing festive gatherings during the pandemic, this year is set to bring a sense of normalcy as majority of Canadians are planning to celebrate Thanksgiving (66%) and the holidays (78%), either by hosting their friends and family or attending a gathering themselves, while some are still undecided on their plans.
Despite Canadians returning to festive celebrations, inflation and its impact on their grocery bills poses a new consideration for Thanksgiving and the holidays. The majority of Canadians that are planning to celebrate expect price increases will impact their celebrations, as those surveyed noted inflation will be a consideration during Thanksgiving (74%) and holiday (77%) planning. Millennials and Gen X, already heavily strained by rising costs, expect to be hit the hardest by inflation with nearly half saying they will be significantly or somewhat impacted this Thanksgiving (48%) and holiday season (53%).
Though inflation is top of mind for both hosts and guests, understandably hosts are the most concerned about inflation’s impact on their menus. Despite their concerns, almost half of hosts are planning to stick to what they would normally serve and are not planning to scale back their menu for Thanksgiving (43%) and the holidays (45%). On the contrary, 32% will look for Thanksgiving cost savings by buying in bulk or opting for cost-effective menus, compared to 29% of respondents looking to do the same for the holidays. Most hosts and guests agreed on one thing, turkey will be the centerpiece of the table this year, with almost three quarters (69%) of participants planning to include turkey as the main dish at their celebration.
“A roast turkey is one of the most affordable, zero waste dinners you can make. One turkey can produce up to four meals, which can be enjoyed after the big family dinner,” says Chef Shahir Massoud from Butterball Canada. “To make the process easy, enjoyable and cost-effective, Butterball offers many tools like the Turkey Calculator which tells you exactly how much you’ll need and all the steps to cooking a delicious, tender and juicy turkey. Not to mention the Turkey Talk Line, whose experts have been helping home cooks with their turkey questions for 40 years.”
Additional survey findings include:
Thanksgiving
- In 2021, only 21% of Canadians celebrated Thanksgiving as they had in the past
- 53% modified their celebrations to a reduced group of immediate family or friends and 26% did not celebrate at all
- This year, although 18% of those surveyed are still undecided on their plans, more than one third (37%) plan to host a celebration as they have in past, 25% plan to attend a celebration and 4% plan to either host a celebration for the first time or go out to a restaurant,
- 61% expect to be celebrating Thanksgiving with larger groups of 5 people or more this year, while only 26% plan to celebrate with smaller groups of 4 or less compared to 39% who celebrated in smaller groups last year
Holiday
- In 2021, only 27% of Canadians celebrated the holidays as they had in the past
- 60% modified their celebrations to a reduced group of immediate family or friends, and 13% did not celebrate at all
- This year, although 14% of those surveyed are still undecided on their plans, nearly half (43%) plan to host a celebration as they have in past, while 30% plan to attend a celebration and only 8% don’t plan to celebrate
- 70% expect to be celebrating the holidays with larger groups of 5 people or more this year, while only 21% plan to celebrate with smaller groups of 4 or less compared to 39% who celebrated in smaller groups last year
Visit Butterball.ca/Thanksgiving for how-to videos, hosting tips, product information, recipes and the turkey calculator. To get answers turkey questions live, call the Turkey Talk Line on October 1-2 and from October 7-10, call 1-800-Butterball or text 1-844-877-3456.
About the Study
Butterball Canada commissioned an omnibus online survey among a nationally representative sample of 1,515 Canadian adults. The survey was fielded by Angus Reid Group on September 12, 2022.
About the Butterball Turkey Talk Line™
One of the first national, toll-free consumer help lines, the Turkey Talk Line has helped almost 50 million consumers since its first season in November 1981. Each October and December, professionally trained turkey experts assist more than 4 million cooks through the Turkey Talk Line, Butterball.ca, Facebook, , Instagram,, live chat and emails in the United States and Canada. With more than 50 staff members, the Turkey Talk Line has the resources to answer questions from English speaking callers and respond to questions via email.
Butterball Canada
Butterball is the most recognized turkey brand in Canada and has been a part of Canadian family celebrations for over 50 years, in addition to providing foodservice and retail products to customers and consumers. As an industry leader in quality, food safety and animal well-being, Butterball products are safely raised and proudly prepared in Canada. The brand is dedicated to delivering high quality turkey that brings people together and inspires joyful experiences.
Exceldor Cooperative
Exceldor Cooperative, owned by some 400 member producers in Canada, has its head office in Lévis and its production is split between its plants in Saint-Anselme, Saint-Damase, Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville, and Saint-Agapit in Quebec, and Hanover, Ontario, and Blumenort, Manitoba. Quebec. The cooperative markets products under several brands including Exceldor, Butterball, Granny’s and Lacroix. It has more than 3,450 employees and sales amount to $1 billion.
