New York
CNN
—

Target is cutting the price of its Thanksgiving meal kit, adding to the roughly 8,000 products that have been marked down, as it tries to attract inflation-weary shoppers this holiday season.

The Thanksgiving meal, priced at $20, down $5 from 2023, feeds four people and includes all the usual holiday essentials: a frozen turkey (up to 10 pounds), potatoes, canned green beans, cream of mushroom soup, a boxed stuffing mix and spiced gravy. The deal is a mix of name brands and the Target-owned Good & Gather label.

“One of the themes we hear consistently is the need for affordability, so we’re committed to prioritizing that and making sure we deliver affordable options,” Rick Gomez, Target’s chief commercial officer, told CNN exclusively .

Target is the latest major retailer to cut the price of its Thanksgiving meal bundle, joining Aldi and Walmart in a holiday price war. Sam’s Club announced a Member’s Mark Thanksgiving meal last week, which feeds up to 10 people for less than $100, featuring the Warehouse Club’s private label products and delivered already cooked.

Food price inflation has moderated significantly over the past year, according to data from the Consumer Price Index. According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, grocery prices rose at a rate of 1.3% per year as of September, which is well below headline inflation.

“As inflation cools in certain pockets, retailers are offering more deals to lure in consumers, hoping shoppers will throw an extra item or two in the basket,” says Dr. Michael Swanson, chief agricultural economist at Wells Fargo’s Agri-Food Institute. , told CNN.

But the fierce competition between retailers illustrates how customers are switching from brand names to cheaper private labels after years of rising prices.

The price of turkey, the most expensive item in the Target bundle, was cut 20% to 79 cents per pound, Gomez said, following a broader trend of gradually declining food prices from their pandemic peak. All sizes remain the same as last year.

Target has also been ambitious in cutting prices this year, which has helped improve its bottom line after a series of terrible earnings quarters.

But Gomez said customers have responded positively to the discounts to stay ‘choiceful’ in their spending.

Customers are “trying to stretch their budgets and looking for different ways to do that,” he said, pointing to the growth of the private label business, which generates $30 billion in sales each year.

Gomez said Target customers buy in bulk to save money, or buy smaller items that have cheaper prices compared to their full-size counterpart. Others are increasingly on the hunt for turnover.

Target has a cautious outlook for the rest of the year, an indication that it expects customers will continue to haggle. The company expects sales to rise by up to 2% this year, but also warned it may not reach that level.

Despite the cautious spending, Gomez said customers continue to “prioritize the holiday season,” but added that “they are looking for affordable options to do that.”

Target (TGT) reports earnings on November 20.