Turkeys have not come cheap this year as U.S. farmers have passed steep grain prices on to customers. The traditional Thanksgiving dinner will cost about 13% more this year, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation.

To keep budget-minded customers from getting sticker shock, some grocery chains are deeply discounting the birds. That's created a "turkey war" between stores fighting for every last consumer dollar.

Post continues below.
"There are tremendous turkey wars," one Barclays Capital analyst told The Financial Times. "Most [supermarkets] do not make money on turkeys. They make money on everything else."

It's very common for grocery stores to chop the price of one featured item in hopes of making up the money on ancillary sales. Turkeys are a perfect scenario for this strategy, as Thanksgiving shoppers might also pick up potatoes, pumpkin pie and other items that can be sold for a profit.

The Supervalu (SVU) chain was selling frozen turkeys for between 47 and 49 cents a pound, the FT reports. The company runs the Albertsons, Shaw's and Cub Foods stores.

Safeway (SWY) was selling turkeys for $5 each with an additional $25 purchase in San Jose, Calif. In Arizona, the chain was selling the birds for 59 cents a pound with the additional purchase.

In Louisiana, a 16-pound turkey was running at 87 cents a pound, according to the HoumaToday site.

Other stores are giving free turkeys if you blow out your entire Thanksgiving budget there. Kmart stores, owned by Sears Holdings (SHLD), are offering a free 10-12 pound turkey if you spend $250 on other items, reports the Atlanta Journal-Constitution​. What a bargain.

How much will grocers have to give in order to retain market share this holiday? The stores already operate on thin margins, and the budget-conscious shopper isn't going to allow for many gains.