Facing persistent high grocery prices, major retailers like Walmart, Target, and ALDI are heavily discounting holiday meal bundles this year to attract budget-conscious shoppers, a trend that has garnered political attention.
President Donald Trump on Wednesday specifically praised Walmart, the nation’s largest private employer, for its discounted Thanksgiving offering.
Walmart just announced that the cost of their standard Thanksgiving meal… is 25% lower than one year ago. Isn’t that great? That’s a big deal,
Trump said during a speech at the America Business Forum.
Walmart’s annual Thanksgiving meal basket, announced last month, includes 20 national and private brand items, such as a Butterball turkey. Designed to serve 10 people, the entire package costs less than $40, breaking down to approximately $4 per person. These deals are intended to relieve pressure on families as grocery prices remain high.
According to the Consumer Price Index published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), food at home prices rose 2.7% in the 12 months ending September 2025. Over the four-year period from 2020 to 2024, the average cost of all food purchased by consumers—including groceries and restaurant meals—rose 23.6%, outpacing the general CPI growth of 21.2% over the same period.
As inflation has strained household budgets in recent years, grocery stores have offered discounted Thanksgiving meal bundles to attract shoppers, with each retailer seeking to undercut rivals with aggressively priced holiday packages.
Target was the latest to announce its deal, telling customers on Wednesday that its holiday meal bundle for four is cheaper than ever before, available for under $20, which equates to about $5 per person.
Meanwhile, ALDI claimed it has offered the lowest per-person price on a Thanksgiving meal compared to nationwide retailers for years. ALDI’s current Thanksgiving deal, which kicked off in October, serves 10 people and costs about $40—$7 cheaper than a year ago. The company stated the deal will last through the end of December.
Other major retailers are also participating:
- Amazon is offering customers a deal beginning in mid-November: a feast for five costing $25. Amazon’s deal will last through November 27.
- Lidl is providing a meal that feeds 10 people for less than $36. It includes a range of items from a turkey to pumpkin pie and will last through November 27.
