Jessica Wallace – Kamloops This Week
While food prices rise with the sinking loonie, Kamloops and area supermarkets remain full of shoppers.
“You kind of need it to survive,” said 21-year-old Kalysta Szauer, who was browsing fruits and vegetables at the Real Canadian Superstore when KTW spoke with her.
The Sahali store recently issued a customer apology — notes found hanging in the aisles of its produce department — that cited “weather-related issues in growing regions coupled with the impact of U.S. exchange” for higher prices and supply gaps.
Kamloops Superstore management would not comment on the signs, but the store manager did acknowledge prices have gone up “across the board.”
A sign in the produce department at the Real Canadian Superstore explains to customers why prices are higher than normal, citing weather in the United States and the weakening Canadian dollar.
Superstore’s parent company, Loblaw, referred comment to the Retail Council of Canada, but company president Galen Weston warned in a November conference call with investors that food inflation is difficult to predict.
“We continue to have strong inflation in fresh [foods], although it has been moderating over the course of the year. It’s really the second year of strong fresh-food inflation,” Weston said while recapping the company’s third-quarter results.
“It’s really, really hard to predict inflation, so we try and be conservative in our own planning ... We didn’t expect quite the level of inflation that we have right now to sustain all the way through the year, so it’s hard to say for sure what’s going to happen in 2016.”
The loonie continues to plummet and hit a 12-year low last week, closing at about 71 cents US, with the drop attributed to weak oil prices, slow global economic growth and the strength of the U.S. dollar.
Fruits and vegetables in Canadian stores are largely imported and vulnerable to currency fluctuations.
Summer drought conditions in California and recent snow in Texas and Arizona have also impacted supply, he said.
While prices seem steep now, a recent study suggests sticker shock will get worse.
The University of Guelph’s Food Institute estimates the average Canadian household spent $325 more on food in 2015, with that amount expected to increase to about $345 this year. Produce is expected to increase by between four and 4.5 per cent and meat, which rose five per cent last year, is expected to increase another 4.5 per cent in 2016.
The rising cost of product has prompted the A&W restaurant in Sahali to display notices at the till, informing customers of price increases.