1y ago

Statistics Canada says Canada’s inflation rate tumbled to 2.8 per cent in June, putting it within the Bank of Canada’s target range.

Excluding gasoline, headline inflation would have been 4.0% in June, following a 4.4% increase in May.

Canadians continued to see elevated grocery prices (+9.1%) and mortgage interest costs (+30.1%) in June, with those indexes contributing the most to the headline CPI increase.

The all-items excluding food index rose 1.7% and the all-items excluding mortgage interest cost index rose 2.0%.

https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/230718/dq230718a-eng.htm?HPA=1

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54 comments

Boy that grocery inflation sure is sticky. Almost like the cause is located within the industry itself and not a factor being forced upon it externally.
- It's almost like food is something everyone needs and has to buy no matter the cost, so there's no incentive for grocery stores to reduce their profit margins.
  
  Competition/survival is the only incentive to reduce profit margins. Co-ops have no profit incentive.
  This, seemingly inevitable, position was a long term strategy from consolidated major players with a history of collision.
  Immediate steps you can take to help:
  If there is a co-op grocery option near you, join it. Second best is a local grocer. (Unpacking the supply chains is another beast...)
  Join a CSA / buy direct from farms. Avoid imported foods to the extent possible.
  Write you MP and MPP to support the removal of taxes on seeds and seedlings for food products, a tax that benifts major players and hurts non-profit growers.
  Grow some food, share it with your friends/family. Either on your own property or, for us condoites, community gardens.
  
  Join a CSA / buy direct from farms.
  Sounds good but I can get all my groceries from Walmart and have next day delivery for like $7. I would love to ditch Walmart, but not having a car makes me value the logistics a lot.
  
  The massive chains are always the cheapest in town. Until they're the only ones in town, then the prices rise. This is the strategy, they kill local businesses then set the prices.
  I appreciate the choice many be difficult for you as an individual, but appreciate you are making the wrong choice. I need, and sometimes just want, to make bad choices too.
  
  That's harsh. But also rings true. I'll try looking around for CSA nearby again, thanks for the nudge.
  
  Some CSAs will deliver weekly, which may help.
  
  Look up "farm boxes" or "farm co-ops" in your area.
  My brother lives in the city but get a big box of local produce delivered weekly. It's really cheap too for how much he gets. I'm pretty sure the program is just called "local farm box" or something like that.
  
  I mean, have you reached out to your local farms/CSA groups to inquire about delivery and encourage them to establish something like that? The pandemic definitely pushed a lot of groups to incorporate that into their model, if you haven't checked recently you might be surprised. I mean, even if it's just to demonstrate interest for a pick up point in your area or ask if they're affiliated with a local supplier who does deliver, it never hurts to reach out
  
  I do think one of them has a pick up point at least, none offer delivery, but I'll have see if I'll be able to make that work with a small bicycle basket at a time late enough for me to go after work. I'm also afraid of committing to cycle a few extra kilometers every week with the added weight, but we'll see.
  
  You don't find that the fruits and vegetables from Walmart expire so much faster than from other grocery stores? It's especially bad when we had it delivered by instacart because they just didn't care and would grab the first thing they see rather than pick through it like I would. And of course that's what you expect because they're not the ones eating it.
  
  Some CSAs do home delivery. They are great where they exist, but CSAs cannot scale enough to impact this problem.
  
  Second best is a local grocer.
  Yeah I shop at my local Asian supermarket. Family run, and so much cheaper than the nearby Loblaws or even the farther No Frills.
- I suspect the prices will, ironically, allow new players to enter the market and undercut.
  I have farmers in my family. They talk about the pieces they got last year (high) versus this year (much lower). In fact, it's leading to some unethical optimization problems...
  Crop insurance payouts are based on last year's price. For some farmers, they would earn more this year if they sabotaged their own crops and took the insurance payout based on last year's prices.
  My family rejects it, cause ethics is a thing. But I suspect some farmers will just see dollars and will artificially constrain their supply. And the rest of the farmers will have their insurance rates increase.
- The problem with groceries is that the raw product is largely bought on futures contracts, so you're paying last year's price. Last year was inflated due to fertilizer issues and general concern around the Ukraine conflict. The raw product price is now down ~50% since last year, but it will take until next year to see that show up in the store.
  
  but it will take until next year to see that show up in the store.
  I really wish I wasn't so jaded. I can't bring myself to believe that. Hope I'm wrong.
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  but no, no greedflation here

54 comments