Thanksgiving Day is here and kick starts the one month-long holiday season. While most Americans warm up for their annual shopping gala on the fourth Thursday of November every year – which goes by giving thanks for all good things in life – the day mainly calls for celebratory meals with family and friends, at home or outside.

This year, savings on gas stations thanks to cheap oil prices, an improving job market and still-contained inflation should lay a copious spread on the Thanksgiving table.

How Pricey Thanksgiving Meal This Year? 

The national average cost of a Thanksgiving feast last year tallied $49.41, as per the American Farm Bureau Federation. Though the Farm Bureau survey indicated that this cost stayed the same or somewhat declined from the prior year and moved along the consumer price index, ‘the average cost of Thanksgiving dinner for 10 people’ will likely cross $50 for the first time in 2015 since the agency started following the data.

The spike in the price of turkey, the focus of the dining table, thanks to a supply crunch caused by bird flu is mainly behind the expected rise in cost. But, industry experts also believe that on an inflation-adjusted basis, prices are quite reasonable. Moreover, this year, consumers can also import fruits, vegetables, wines and cheeses at cheaper prices thanks to a soaring greenback. Yields of corn, wheat and soybeans are also abundant.

As per USDA’s projection in October, all food price index is up 1.7% so far in 2015, below the 20-year historical average of 2.6%. Food away from home inflation is 2.5% this year against the 2.7% historical average while food at home inflation is just 1.1%, drastically lower than the historical average of 2.6%.

In any case, restaurant industry sales are projected to peak in 2015 with a record high of $709.2 billion, representing the sixth successive year of real expansion in restaurant sales, per National Restaurant Association. If online sales are considered, Thanksgiving Day is expected to see an 18% year-over-year rise to $1.6 billion. It will be the ‘fastest growing online sales day for the second consecutive year’, per Adobe.

So food and beverage companies are pinning their hopes on this Thanksgiving for huge profits. This is a key business-boosting occasion for these stocks and the related ETFs. Let’s take a look at the stocks and ETFs investors can gobble up for some gains throughout the holiday season (read: Q4 Outlook for Consumer Staples ETFs).

Stock Picks

B&G Foods Inc. (BGS)

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