Research reveals this year’s Thanksgiving festive food trends

According to a new study, one in five Americans plan to host friends and family for the first time ever this holiday season.

The study of 2,000 U.S. adults who celebrate the winter holidays found 42% plan to host in the upcoming months — 19% of whom have never hosted before.

Commissioned by The Honey Baked Ham Company and conducted by Talker Research, the survey found 59% consider hosting guests a tradition of theirs. An additional 41% actually prefer creating new traditions instead of following old, established ones.

More than half of Americans (52%) also said food plays a big role in developing their traditions.

While most see turkey as the most “traditional” food for the holidays (92%), 49% said they’d prefer to serve ham as an alternative on Thanksgiving.

In fact, 73% said ham would likely be a main dish for them throughout the holiday season.

“The best traditions are created through serving delicious, memorable food to your guests,” said Tripp McLaughlin, Chief Marketing Officer, The Honey Baked Ham Company. “We encourage hosts to continue to put food front and center at all of their gatherings this holiday season.”

The study also revealed exactly what it takes to be a “good” host. Seven in 10 believe it means keeping things informal, inviting guests to wear whatever they want.

Similarly, 73% believe it’s important to have the “perfect” food menu for guests and 60% said they prepare multiple versions of meals to accommodate guests with different dietary needs.

One-fifth claimed to have “mastered the art” of hosting, feeling extremely confident in their abilities. Another 47% said they mostly know what they’re doing, but improvise when they need to.

Respondents were also asked how their traditions develop.

A third (31%) said their new traditions tend to develop by accident or coincidence. Meanwhile, 18% can’t remember how new traditions begin, and 15% have tried to replicate a tradition they’ve seen someone else partake in on social media or entertainment.

“Hosting family and friends is becoming a growing trend among people, and it’s clear that people are beginning to master what it takes to be the perfect host,” continued McLaughlin. “Being a good host means establishing a space for yourself and for guests that is accommodating and welcoming with food at the heart of the experience.”
 
Survey methodology:
Talker Research surveyed 2,000 Americans who celebrate winter holidays; the survey was commissioned by The Honey Baked Ham Company and administered and conducted online by Talker Research between Oct. 22 and Oct. 27, 2024.

We are sourcing from a non-probability frame and the two main sources we use are:
● Traditional online access panels — where respondents opt-in to take part in online market research for an incentive
● Programmatic — where respondents are online and are given the option to take part in a survey to receive a virtual incentive usually related to the online activity they are engaging in

Those who did not fit the specified sample were terminated from the survey. As the survey is fielded, dynamic online sampling is used, adjusting targeting to achieve the quotas specified as part of the sampling plan.

Regardless of which sources a respondent came from, they were directed to an Online Survey, where the survey was conducted in English; a link to the questionnaire can be shared upon request. Respondents were awarded points for completing the survey. These points have a small cash-equivalent monetary value.

Cells are only reported on for analysis if they have a minimum of 80 respondents, and statistical significance is calculated at the 95% level. Data is not weighted, but quotas and other parameters are put in place to reach the desired sample.

Interviews are excluded from the final analysis if they failed quality-checking measures. This includes:
● Speeders: Respondents who complete the survey in a time that is quicker than one-third of the median length of interview are disqualified as speeders
● Open ends: All verbatim responses (full open-ended questions as well as other please specify options) are checked for inappropriate or irrelevant text
● Bots: Captcha is enabled on surveys, which allows the research team to identify and disqualify bots
● Duplicates: Survey software has “deduping” based on digital fingerprinting, which ensures nobody is allowed to take the survey more than once
It is worth noting that this survey was only available to individuals with internet access, and the results may not be generalizable to those without internet access.