New food inflation figures for the month of January show that groceries are now dramatically more expensive than they were before COVID.
Meat eaters in January 2023 paid 48 percent more for a striploin steak than they did in February 2020, before COVID-19 was making headlines in Canada and the country started lockdowns.
Salad lovers paid 56 percent more for a head of lettuce, and 45 percent more for romaine lettuce, which in recent months, went up to an astonishing $7.00-plus a head in some parts of Alberta, and up to $14 per head in Montreal.
White sugar saw significant increases of 72 percent for a 2-kilogram bag, while olive oil was up 32 percent, and bacon was closely following at 31 percent more. Non-food items offered no relief either, with deodorant up 36 percent and infant formula seeing price increases of 21 percent since February 2020.
The figures are found in a monthly database, “Monthly Average Retail Prices for Selected Products,” from Statistics Canada, first reported by Blacklock’s Reporter.
The database allows consumers to compare monthly average grocery store prices between any time frame for commonly purchased grocery and food items. The prices are based on actual prices paid at the till across the country.
The Epoch Times compared grocery prices for typical items in February 2020, before the COVID pandemic, with prices in January 2023:
stew beef, up 23 percent, from $14.20 per kilogram to $17.52
beef striploin steaks, up 48 percent, from $18.96 per kilogram to $27.98
chicken breasts, up 10 percent, from $12.68 per kilogram to $13.99
bacon, up 31 percent, from $5.37 per 500 grams to $7.04
2% milk, up 15 percent, from $4.27 per two litres to $4.92
salmon, up 23 percent, from $23.53 per kilogram to $28.93
butter, up 26 percent, from $4.65 per block to $5.87
eggs, up 22 percent, from $3.58 per dozen to $4.38
oranges, up 28 percent from $3.21 per kilogram to $4.11
bananas, up six percent, from $1.61 per kilogram to $1.72
strawberries, up 43 percent, from $3.20 for 454 grams to $4.60
apples, up 27 percent, from $4.21 per kilogram to $5.36
potatoes, up 16 percent, from $3.87 per kilogram to $4.59
tomatoes, up four percent, from $6.56 per kilogram to $6.85
celery, up 57 percent, from $2.69 per stalk to $4.22
onions, up 28 percent from $4.08 per kilogram to $5.24
iceberg lettuce, up 56 percent, from $2.19 per head to $3.42
romaine lettuce, up 45 percent, from $2.83 per head to $4.11
white bread, up 26 percent, from $2.90 to $3.65
canned baked brown beans, up 29 percent, from $1.22 per can to $1.57
deodorant, up 36 percent, from $4.98 for 85 grams to $6.79
laundry detergent, up 36 percent, from $11.06 for 4.43 litres to $15.03
canned peaches, up 34 percent, from $1.93 for 398 millilitres to $2.58
white rice, up 19 percent, from $8.21 for two kilograms to $9.78
mayonnaise, up 37 percent, from $4.43 to $6.09
roasted or ground coffee, up 20 percent, from $5.33 for 340 grams to $6.40
olive oil, up 32 percent, from $7.88 per litre to $10.39
infant formula, up 21 percent, from $30.17 for 900 grams to $36.58
white sugar, up 72 percent, from $1.70 for two kilograms to $2.93
tea bags, up 27 percent, from $3.36 for 20 to $4.27
The cost of groceries skyrocketed by close to 10 percent in 2022, representing the highest increase seen since 1981, with higher food prices for almost every item in the grocery store, according to Statistics Canada.
Overall, cash-strapped consumers are paying more for everyday living costs. An internal government memo states that food inflation is rising so much, it threatens to reverse gains in the national rate of poverty. The memo, called “School Food” from the Department of Social Development, said the average 11 percent increase in grocery food prices “could impact poverty rates in Canada” for years in the future.
A federal report, “Consumer Vulnerability: Evidence From the Monthly Covid-19 Financial Well-Being Survey,” according to Blacklock’s Reporter, indicates more than one-third of Canadians have been forced to borrow to cover daily household expenses.
The report indicated that roughly 41 percent of Canadians had no emergency funds to cover unexpected expenses like car repairs. Thirty-eight percent “borrowed money to cover daily expenses,” said the report. Another 5 percent of those surveyed indicated that they had obtained payday loans just to cover their daily household expenses.
“In the current economic context many Canadians are facing the biggest financial challenges of their lives,” according to a Feb. 13 report from the federal Financial Consumer Agency of Canada.
The agency said more Canadians “are borrowing money to cover their day to day expenses including by using high-cost loans.”
In a Feb. 9 brief presented to the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food by economist Jim Stanford, he said that of all the aspects of inflation in Canada, the one that “generates the most anger among Canadians is the rise in food prices.”
According to Stanford, “food retail profits have doubled compared to pre-pandemic norms.” He cited Statistics Canada data suggesting food grocers in 2022 earned twice what they earned in 2019, roughly $5 billion per year in net income.
Last year, the federal government asked the Competition Bureau to look into food prices. A report on their findings is expected later in 2023.
