Some Maritimers opting out of baking this holiday season due to high costs

Some Maritime bakers and consumers are cutting back on sweets this month.

Some Maritimers are taking a step back from baking this holiday season in hopes of saving a bit of money.

Kelly Muse held back on purchasing some of her sweet baking essentials due to high prices.

“Definitely the cost of milk, eggs are things we are constantly monitoring. We’ve been thinking about baking and making the cheaper stuff that doesn’t need as much butter or eggs,” says Muse.

Baking is a holiday tradition in their family, whether it’s cookies, bread, muffins or pies.

“This year nothing yet because we are like, ‘Ahh, money’s tight,’” says Muse.

“Prices have actually exploded in the last two to three years and people will always remember higher prices,” says Sylvain Charlebois, Dalhousie University director of the Agri-Food Analytics Lab. “We’re talking about items that are at the centre of the store and it’s been a little rocky at the centre of the store. Some products are a little bit higher. What’s happening now is that there is a bit of a paradox.

“Commodity prices are actually lower like, say, for sugar, for example, coffee, chocolate is actually going down so that’s good news but retail prices are still quite high. It takes a while before we see adjustments in retail.”

Muse is avoiding baking items that require a lot of butter or eggs.

“Normally you would be baking up a storm, but I know people are like, ‘No, man, things are so expensive and constantly trying to find the butter on sale and then there is none in stock,’” says Muse.

“There is evidence out there that people are baking less just because of the price it costs to actually buy ingredients. We are seeing evidence that people are cooking less and baking less as well,” says Charlebois.

Statistics Canada found in 2024, butter in Nova Scotia cost $5.93 per pound and in 2025, it’s $5.79. Eggs were $5.23 for a dozen last year and this year they are $5.43. White sugar was $2.71 per two kilograms in 2024 and it’s $2.56 in 2025.

Nova Scotia also saw an increase in the cost of wheat flour, from $4.47 last year to $5.01 this year.

“Chocolate, generally speaking, is seeing higher prices than last year. I’d say chocolate is between 15 to 20 per cent more. If you’re into chocolate for cookies or bread or whatever you’re making, you may reduce the quantity because you don’t have much of a choice and for vanilla, vanilla prices have actually gone up as well,” says Charlebois.

Brady Muller, owner of Bird’s Nest Cafe & Catering, is buying in bulk to keep costs down.

“We buy about 20 kilos of dark chocolate at a time and I think right now that costs us about $500 and we are buying that every week or two,” says Muller. “At this time of year, it’s a lot of cookies, a lot of brownies, a lot of muffins in the morning so we are going through probably 50 pounds of butter a week. We are trying to shop around to find the best prices that we can.”

Charlebois says shrinkflation could also be playing a part this year.

“There are packages that I think have shrunk but they are not adjusting prices as a result,” says Charlebois.