Millions of Americans are preparing for Christmas celebrations, and many plan to spend time with loved ones and cook food for the holidays.

Nearly three-quarters of US consumers celebrating Christmas have plans to gather with family and friends, and 33% will have more people. seconds a survey of the numerator. It also found that 61% intend to cook or bake at home during the holidays.

with Christmas is fast approachingit’s likely that many of those planning to cook are preparing their grocery lists (and pocketbooks) for the occasion. Together, a Christmas meal and gingerbread, a popular holiday treat, will be more expensive in the US this year thanks to popular ingredients seeing year-over-year price increases. Expana reported.

Cheerful multigenerational family communicating while enjoying Christmas meal at the table. (skynesher via Getty Images/Getty Images)

The commodities data provider said main meal prices, as measured by the Main Meal Index as part of its Christmas Dinner Index, were up 2.3% on last year. He looked at turkey, pork, beef, shrimp, lamb, potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots and turnips.

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According to the Expana report, this price increase was “driven largely by higher prices for pork, lamb, shrimp and some vegetables.”

All meats that Expana tracked for the Main Food Index, other than turkey, were up from last year. The cost of a 16-pound frozen turkey showed a 13.7 percent drop from last November, averaging $1.07 a pound, it found.

Prices per pound for boneless leg of lamb rose 9.2% from 2023, according to Expana. Lean hams and ¼-inch bone-in pork butts also rose in price, with the former up 8.3 percent and the latter up 3.4 percent, the report found.

Of the vegetables in the main food index, sweet potato prices rose the most, to 2.6%. Regular potatoes and turnips saw smaller increases of 1.6% and 1.4%

Heap of harvested sweet potatoes, Maryland. (Edwin Remsberg/VWPics/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)/Getty Images)

Expana pegged the cost of carrots at 58 cents per pound, down 19.2% year-over-year.

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Meanwhile, the report saw a 5.5% increase in its gingerbread index made up of wheat flour, sugar, butter, eggs, ginger and cassia. The jump was largely related to the costs of eggs and sugar.

Teenage girls baking Christmas cookies in the oven (GMVozd via Getty Images/Getty Images)

Commodity Data said its “Midwest Large benchmark quote” averaged $4.29 per dozen in November, a 97.5% increase compared to the same time last year.

Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics found that the average price of a dozen large Grade A eggs in US cities was $3,649 in November, up from $2,138 a year ago.

Factors including “robust retail demand, holiday preparationsand persistent inflation, as well as bird flu, have contributed to their higher costs, according to Expana.

In the hands of a woman packing eggs in the supermarket (iStock/iStock)

In addition to eggs and sugar, ginger and cassia spices added to the cost, he found.

Butter and wheat, however, have become more expensive, according to Expana. Their prices fell by 2.2% and 2%, respectively.

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The Main Meal and Gingerbread Indexes make up the Expana Christmas Dinner Index. Taking into account changes in the cost of all the ingredients in each, Christmas meals and gingerbread have seen an increase of 2.4% since 2023, according to the report.

Full frame Christmas holiday background. Gifts under a blurred decorated tree in the corner. Selective focus on foreground stockings hanging from mantle. Bright red and green colors. Home interior decorated for Christmas. (iStock/iStock)

For the winter holidays, consumers will spend $261 on food, candy, decorations and other non-gift items, according to separate data from the National Retail Federation.