The grocery price freeze is over — so brace yourself for even bigger food bills soon

Holiday price freezes implemented by some of Canada’s largest grocery chains are reaching their expiration dates, so shoppers should prepare for some news that may be hard to swallow: get ready for food bills to go up. According to many. again.

Loblaws made headlines last fall when it announced it would freeze prices on hundreds of No Name brands at home through the holiday season. The grocery chain pitched the plan as a salvo for cost-conscious shoppers hit by high inflation, but those in the industry were quick to dismiss it as a publicity stunt, as grocery chains usually impose similar price freezes during this period, refusing to accept any price increases from suppliers during the critical shopping season.

Loblaws promised in October that No Name Grocery staples would not see a price increase until at least the end of January. It’s February, and the chain told CBC News in a statement this week that it plans to keep prices “where possible” but warned that many prices may go up in the coming weeks.

“Once the price freeze is over, customers can expect some price increases, but as mentioned at the outset, we will continue to hold No Name prices flat,” spokeswoman Catherine Thomas said. “The cost of stocking our shelves goes up, every month.”

Montreal-based chain Metro sang a similar tune at its annual general meeting last month, with CEO Eric La Flèche telling reporters that the chain had received more than 27,000 requests from suppliers last year to raise prices by more than 10 percent. That’s more than three times the normal rate.

“There are cost increases coming, and we hope that some of these cost increases will be reflected in the store,” he told reporters at a media briefing on January 24. gradual and advanced to protect prices as much as possible [but] unfortunately, inflation continues.”

Buyers like Palaash Tiwari are well aware. Food shopping in Toronto on Wednesday, Tiwari told CBC News that he has made big changes to his diet in recent months, like buying cheaper and cheaper meats, trying to save money wherever he can. They also stopped going out to restaurants because of the high cost.

“People have to choose what they want to consume,” he said. “People have to find their own alternatives.”

Why is fresh produce so expensive?

Of course, not every type of food increases quickly.

Statistics Canada data released this week showed that many grocery items have seen their prices double, exceeding normal during the winter months. The retail price of tomatoes has gone from $4.57 per kilogram in October to $6.99 in December – an increase of more than 52 percent in two months.

Celery and grapes are almost as bad, with prices rising 49 and 46 percent, respectively, in just two months. And foods like apples, broccoli and iceberg lettuce aren’t far behind.

Most of the biggest increases today are in fresh fruits and vegetables, and for good reason, according to Mike von Massow, a food economist at the University of Guelph.

“If you look out the window there is snow on the ground [so] we don’t produce … fruits and vegetables on a significant scale.”

Almost all of the fresh produce that Canadians consume in the winter comes through the US directly or indirectly, so it is subject to higher costs throughout the supply chain. Transportation costs alone are significant, but this year there has been a major price increase for tomatoes and lettuce because of what happened in California’s Salinas Valley.

Most of the North American lettuce crop comes from that region, which was hit by a virus in November that reduced supplies. The region’s record-setting drought in the fall was followed by floods last month, which caused supply crashes of all kinds of water-intensive crops like celery, broccoli and grapes.

“What’s happening now is almost a storm of problems that puts pressure on almost everything,” said von Massow.

Relief in the spring?

It may be hard to see when perusing the aisles of your local grocery store, but von Massow can see relief ahead for some of the ongoing price hikes.

“Maybe we’ll start to see some relief in the spring when we get to the Canadian production season,” he said. “We will not be vulnerable to imports that are penalized by the exchange rate and so on.”

Until then, shoppers like Athena Dennie in Toronto will keep doing what they’ve been doing, shopping for bargains, and swapping out their usual staples for cheaper alternatives whenever possible.

“One lettuce is very expensive,” he told CBC News outside a local grocery store on Wednesday. “The doctor didn’t tell me to eat lettuce so I didn’t have to buy it, so I left it.

“The price is going up [but] my salary did not increase. It just stays at the same level.”