TORONTO – Inflation continues to decline, albeit slightly (from 6.3% in December 2022 to 5.9% in January 2023), but the bull market in food shows no signs of slowing down. It was already known – just go shopping to find out – but now the numbers of the latest report by Statistics Canada confirm it: in January, the prices of food products recorded a year-on-year increase of 11.4%, compared to 11% the previous month. And since last August, the food inflation rate has been over 10%.
The price of lettuce, on an annual basis, has increased faster than any other food during 2022, with a jump of 35.3%. Last fall, Canada saw a widespread lettuce shortage, forcing some restaurants to remove leafy greens from their menus. However, lettuce prices are a little cheaper at least than in December: they have decreased by 5.8% since then.
Meanwhile, fresh vegetables as a whole were up 14.7% year-over-year and 3.8% month-on-month: tomatoes, in particular, were up 9% in just one month, from December 2022 to January 2023.
The same increase, over the same period, for chicken, while overall meat prices increased by 3.4% from December 2022 to January 2023.
Flour also increased by 8% month-on-month and by 23.2% on an annual basis. And the prices of edible fats and oils also increased by 22.3%, although these prices have not seen significant changes since last month.
Even butter has risen a lot: +19.1% on an annual basis and +7% on a monthly basis, while the prices of bread, rolls and buns have increased by 18.1% compared to last year.
Among the other products that immediately increased significantly, there are pasta (+19.5% on an annual basis) and potatoes (+4.1% on a monthly basis).
