Feast for the pocketbook

Shoppers for imported dairy are already seeing some savings, however. New Zealand's Anchor butter continues to be the best deal at grocery stores around Beijing: about 21 yuan for a 227-gram package, while a popular Danish brand runs about 50 percent higher.

Fans of pecan pie, a holiday favorite in the US, have experienced the wildest price fluctuation over the past two years. In 2012, China's entry into the US pecan market pushed prices sky-high: Wholesale prices climbed as much as 50 percent as growers scrambled to meet the country's fast-growing appreciation for the nuts. The calendar added more pressure: The Thanksgiving-Christmas season is the peak demand time for pecans in the US, but because Chinese New Year came early that year - demand stayed very high into January.

This year, a combination of good weather and a late Spring Festival in 2015 is keeping pecan prices more stable. Small nut size in Georgia has dropped the harvest forecast from 85 million to 70 million pounds for 2014, but Texas - the other big pecan producing state - enjoyed a wet fall and production there will total about 60 million pounds, nearly double last year's weak harvest.

The FAO's Food Price Index, which tracks prices of cereals, meat, dairy products, vegetable oils and sugar on international markets, is at its lowest since August 2010. Grain prices are at a four-year-low, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.

If coffee and chocolate loom large in your holiday feasting, however, that could limit your savings. Arabica bean prices have soared more than 60 percent due to the drought in Brazil at the start of the year, and cocoa is about 10 percent higher thanks to unfavorable weather and Ebola fears in the producing regions of western Africa.

But if a Christmas ham is the centerpiece of your Christmas feast, you're in luck. Chinese pork's wholesale price stood at 13.61 yuan per kg last week, hitting bottom rock the week of Dec 15, thanks to slack market demand and an expanding pig breeding business. But that may not last, experts warn: Increasing costs in heating and winter disease prevention and control could bring prices up later, straining budgets for holiday celebrations by Chinese New Year on Feb 19.

While low food prices globally keep the cost of many imported foods down for grocery shoppers, that doesn't automatically mean Christmas dinner at a fancy hotel will be cheaper, too. Rent and transportation costs are up, canceling out any savings. Importers and top hotel food-and-beverage managers say the price of Christmas dinners they serve will be about the same this year as last.

Yang Feiyue contributed to this report.