Financial Times: Canadian grocery bills are set to go up again

[Shwa Girl]

According to CTV News the increase in the cost of groceries is coming because Trump will start to crackdown on the practice of illegal immigrant agricultural workers in the United States.

Yes. A large majority of agricultural workers in the US are immigrant workers. Some farmers do the right paper work to get the workers in the US, to stay on a temporary basis. This year, some crops went bad in the US since there not enough workers to pick them.

In Ontario, the migrant farm workers are documented and get health services when they are here. Many have returned year after year. Ontario produce prices would be about the same in 2017, I think.

[Shwa Girl]

If only is that simple.

Due to our climate. It's impossible to grow enough fruits and vegetables for the population in winter. Even in the good months, there are things that just can't be grown here. Like your bananas and oranges.

There just aren't enough farming infrastructure, or people willing to work in primary industry. It would take a lot of deforestation and import migrant labors. It would be more expensive and devastating than importing.

Oranges can be bought for a good price - South Africa origin. Bananas can be bought for as low as $0.39/lb
Frozen vegetables that were grown locally can be bought for a good price in stores.

[walkonby]

well....as much as I do try to cut food costs then we inevitably get hit with an unexpected vet bill. It happened yesterday ( again) and although we do budget for emergencies it just pains me to see a whopping $450.00 fly out of my pocket for 2 pets having diarrhea.

getting back to the rising cost of food, I know this year we will probably NOT be buying any Prime Rib roasts, which we looked forward to using our AM. But..... my AM balances are not as high as they once were and Metro has increased their sale price for the roasts ( again )

woo hoo! update! Metro actually put their Prime Rib roasts on for $4.99 again this year. I had just enough AM to get 12 lbs ( 3 x 4 lb roasts ) for free, then I bought a 4th roast and a few other groceries to reach $95.00 so I could earn the 95 BAM offer!

[lecale]

woo hoo! update! Metro actually put their Prime Rib roasts on for $4.99 again this year. I had just enough AM to get 12 lbs ( 3 x 4 lb roasts ) for free, then I bought a 4th roast and a few other groceries to reach $95.00 so I could earn the 95 BAM offer!

I miss Metro, they always had good meat deals. Our only Metro closed and became a No Frills (which we didn't have before) so...win some lose some, sigh.


Awesome deal Walks!

[Ciel]

During winter, I'm going to have to choose which store will get the bulk of the week's food money based on the flyers and make it worth my time to walk out with the cart. When the weather is fine, it will be possible to pick up a special or two at the other local grocery stores.
Except for coupon inserts in the community paper, I think the occasional save.ca coupon mail will be the only other major source of coupons, aside from random find on the Coupon Zone board. When spring/summer returns, I'll make more efforts to chase coupons at different stores, as time permits.

Having to go to the library to print out an offer or coupon will only be worthwhile for program or birthday rewards. I simply cannot follow all the print coupon offers. Am grateful for program offers weekly that can be loaded to my cards when they line up with my grocery list (win-win).

Thursday, I was congratulating myself for getting that 10kg bag of flour on Dec.1 when the ground was bare, weather was good and item was on sale-while I was shoveling the snow. Let's look forward to many more happy occurrences of the same for each one of us.

I have not managed to get up to 20000 points yet on the PC Plus program for a second time in 2016. Had set a goal of second redemption before my anniversary date with program last month-not yet. Need just over 3300 pts to get there.

[Shwa Girl]

Brace for impact...

Canadian grocery bills are set to go up again, and it could be Donald Trump’s fault: report



Hollie Shaw | December 5, 2016 | Last Updated: Dec 6 8:52 AM ET
More from Hollie Shaw | @HollieKShaw





A Donald Trump presidency could spell higher grocery bills for Canadians, according to a new report.

Food prices are forecast to rise between 3 and 5 per cent in 2017, says an economic analysis from Dalhousie University, above 2016’s price gains and above the generally acceptable food inflation rate of 1 per cent to 2 per cent a year. The surge will see an average Canadian family spend about $420 more on their groceries next year than in 2016, said agriculture expert Sylvain Charlebois, dean of management at Dalhousie and the report’s lead author.

“In our view, Trump could trigger the next commodity supercyle,” Charlebois said, referring to a series of measures that serve to boost the overall prices of commodities, part of a cycle that typically surfaces every 10 to 15 years. An increase in commodity prices could increase costs for food producers.

Add in a potential interest rate hike and a stronger U.S. dollar, the Dalhousie report says, and Canadians stand to pay even more at the till in 2017.
The last commodity supercycle occurred during the Bush administration a decade ago, and Donald Trump’s promise to fund infrastructure projects has already helped to push up prices for iron, copper and materials such as cement.

continue reading...

I am confused. It's Tuesday Jan 2, 2017 and I saw cereal for $0.67, after coupon; $1.67 before coupon.

I bought oranges from California for $2.88/3 lbs. That's less than $1 per pound. In the winter.

I saw lean ground beef for $2.88/lb. Then they put a pink sticker on it for 50% off the package.

[Natalka]

Shwa Girl, the year has barely begun, Trump is not yet officially president, and you are in Ontario - all reasons for decent prices for lucky you now.

[lecale]

I bought oranges from California for $2.88/3 lbs. That's less than $1 per pound. In the winter.

Oranges are in season

Best prices always December through March

[FallenPixels]

I am confused. It's Tuesday Jan 2, 2017 and I saw cereal for $0.67, after coupon; $1.67 before coupon.

I bought oranges from California for $2.88/3 lbs. That's less than $1 per pound. In the winter.

I saw lean ground beef for $2.88/lb. Then they put a pink sticker on it for 50% off the package.

Not everyone knows how to shop like an SCer though. These stories are generally true for the regular shopper who sticks to one store, no coupons, price matching etc

[Shwa Girl]

Oranges are in season

Best prices always December through March

Thanks. The article stated that 2017 would be different-->price increase. I wonder if the article got it right

[FallenPixels]

Prices slowly increased through 2016 so wouldn't be surprised to see the trend carry on.
The 'regular sale price' for produce from when I started the weekly produce deals thread a few years back and now is insane.

[lecale]

Thanks. The article stated that 2017 would be different-->price increase. I wonder if the article got it right

Well, I saw prices differences this year over last. Chicken was more expensive for me, and bone-in ham too. Frozen fish fillets were cheaper. Beef came down and I started buying it more regularly again. But chicken breast and ham hit me for $50 over the year over last.

I think it's always a mixed bag, you just shrug and shift what you buy if it's hurting you too much. I do a lot of root vegetables in the winter when they are cheap, and I am mad because the last two bags of rutabagas I bought had fibrous internal scarring. Bad rutabaga year? Damn, that's a winter staple to us because they are so cheap and tasty.

You never know what happens with manufacturer coupons either...bacon prices rose fast and steady and packages shrunk in a couple years up to 2016 and all of a sudden we had a flurry of high-value coupons that made it one of the cheapest options out there. And now the prices are coming down again.

I believe that we could have another $8 cauliflower winter but 2017-18 not this year. The bad spell is December-January-February because that is the dead zone for greenhouse growers in Ontario, and all tomatoes, peppers, lettuce etc. are imported. We still have cabbage, carrots, onions, mushrooms, sweet potatoes, squash...dem rutabagas...parsnips but they're gross...canned corn, frozen peas...I mean there are things to eat that are local. Just stay off the cauliflower and broccoli and salads

We will survive! Cheaply!

[FallenPixels]

Agreed, chicken prices are the most obvious increase. Flyers showing it at $4.99 as a deal! I know it goes cheaper but the $6.99 for boneless skinless breasts is not something I will pay for. They seem to have more water in them too as they shrink a lot.

Most SCers know what prices to buy at and will stock up, but we have all had that person in front of us at the cash who just buy whatever, no price-matching or coupons. Imagine what their grocery bills are like!

[Frugalbigmama]

I just bought BLSL chicken for $3.33LB less 30% off. I have so much chicken in the freezer (I bought whole chickens for under $1LB) but I couldn't resist the deal. Maybe I should have bought more!

[barbis9]

They are saying the new cap and trade in Ontario and Alberta will increase prices for consumers in addition to Trump becoming president. Gas has already gone up as of Jan 1st.