For many people these days, a trip to the grocery store requires some studying and strategy.
“[We are] looking for deals anywhere we can get them and price check items,” says consumer Peter Lachance.
Lachance has reduced how often he goes for groceries. He says he’s also noticed a bit of a trend.
“The prices are increasing daily it seems, and it’s at a point where it’s ridiculous,” said Lachance. “I don’t know how people can make ends meet quite honestly.”
Some speculate that retailers are being opportunistic and are gouging customers at the check-out.
Food industry expert Sylvain Charlebois says a recent study by Dalhousie University studying “greedflation,” suggests retailer margins have remained steady at around 2-4 per cent.
“We actually looked at financial statements over the last five years of our main grocers. There is no evidence. Ratios have been quite consistent,” says Charlebois.
However, he does have concerns around some items, like meat and baked goods. But for the most part, he says the sticker price increases seem to be in line with costs.
“The cost to sell those goods has actually gone up significantly in the last 18 months or so,” said Charlebois.
The cost to produce those goods has also increased.
“Fuel is probably the biggest single item, and everybody sees that in the pump prices, and it’s been volatile,” says Tim Marsh, president of the Nova Scotia Federation of Agriculture. “Here lately, the gasoline price has gone down but most of us run on diesel.”
Marsh says there are also other issues facing farmers that haven’t been a concern in the past.
“Probably one of the biggest ones early on was the lack of availability of cardboard, cardboard boxes for produce. Pallets, making sure they have pallets so they can load their products on to for shipping,” he said.
It all adds costs to the product even before it hits the shelves.
Charlebois says food prices aren’t going to come back down but market conditions are starting to become more predictable, which will allow retailers to offer better in-store deals.
