Drought will drive up prices of holiday food, report says

This year’s drought is promising to make many of those favorite holiday treats a bit pricier.

The prices of apples — and apple cider, an October staple — are up 20% to 30% compared to a year ago, thanks to a diminished harvest, according to pricing data compiled by the Dining Alliance, an Allston, Mass.-based group that does bulk buying for restaurant chains. Turkeys, meanwhile, are expected to be 5% to 10% higher than a year ago, while stuffing will be up 3% to 5%. One bright spot: Pumpkin prices aren’t expected to go up at all. It turns out pumpkins are fairly drought resistant, so this year’s crop wasn’t badly damaged, says Dining Alliance.

It isn’t just fresh foods that are impacted. Candy corn, those sickly sweet trick-or-treat items, and many other types of candy, are up 3%, in part because of more expensive corn oil used in manufacturing.

The bad news is that this is just the beginning. “We’re still telling our members the real impact of the drought won’t be felt until February-ish of next year,” says John Davie, chief executive of Dining Alliance. One key issue is the price of corn, which is impacting the cost of feeding livestock. Meat prices are likely to rise, says Mr. Davie, as farmers cull their herds to minimize the cost of feeding the animals.

Other factors heavily influence consumer pricing. The drought affects supply.

Other factors include the US dollar's strength as this influences imports/exports， consumer's willingess to not spend more keeps prices moderate, competition in the marketplace, excess inventories, etc.