Supermarket shoppers in markets like Hartford and New Haven, Conn., Pittsburgh, and Boston spend significantly more, percentage-wise, on ready-made Thanksgiving-related food products than average American consumers, Nielsen reported Thursday.

Hartford/New Haven residents were the top consumers of stuffing products, spending 44% more than average American consumers during the 52 weeks ending September 6, 2008.

During the same period, shoppers in Pittsburgh dominated sales of canned gravy, spending 119% more than average Americans, while Boston consumers spent 194% more than average Americans on New England’s signature fruit condiment, cranberry sauce, according to Nielsen.

But when it comes to Thanksgiving dessert, northeasterners can’t compete with their neighbors to the south, who purchased the lion’s share of frozen pies.

Little Rock, A.R., Birmingham, A.L., and Memphis, Tenn. topped Nielsen’s ranking of the top markets for frozen pie sales.  Shoppers in these three markets spent 75% to 102% more on frozen pies than average Americans.

Nielsen’s Dollar Sales Index reflects a category’s share of total dry grocery sales for a Nielsen market versus the total U.S., using supermarket dollar sales over the most current 52-week period.

The Hartford/New Haven market’s index of 144 for the Stuffing product category, for example, reveals that supermarkets in that particular market sell 44% more stuffing products, relative to total dry grocery purchases, than the national average.

In 2007, ad spending for stuffing mixes increased 10,800% from the late summer months (Q3 2007: $45,180) to the fall (Q4 2007: $4.9 million).

During the same time frame, ad spending on products within the Pie Crust category grew from literally nothing (Q3 2007: $0) to $3.3 million.

Meanwhile, ad spending within the Gravy Mix category grew from nothing (Q3 2007: $0) to $920,358 in the fourth quarter, and ad spending within the Cranberry Sauce category grew from nothing (Q3 2007: $0) to $939,112.

What about the turkey?

Surprisingly, poultry ad spending declined by 24% from Q3 2007 ($15 million) to Q4 2007 (almost $11.4 million).