(The Canadian Press file photo)

By Shane Clausing, CKOM News Staff

Report: Food prices to continue going up in 2023

Dec 5, 2022 | 11:21 AM

The price people pay for food at the grocery store is expected to keep rising in 2023.

That prediction comes from the latest Canada’s Food Price Report, which suggests the average family of four could be paying an extra $1,000 at the grocery store compared to 2022. That would result in an increase of seven per cent.

Sylvain Charlebois, a Dalhousie University professor and the lead author of the report, said the change will likely be apparent in the first half of 2023, but there could be some better news on the way.

“What we’re expecting is a bit of a rocky first start to the year in 2023,” he said. “We’re expecting food prices to rise, unfortunately, but at the same time we’re expecting the expected economic downturn to help shoppers on a tight budget. We’re expecting grocers to offer more deals, essentially.”

Vegetables are expected to see the largest increase in price, but Charlebois thinks prices will bounce back with the supply chain growing more stable.

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“We’re expecting supply chains to continue their recovery. It’s actually getting better; delays aren’t as significant,” he explained. “We’re obviously expecting things to remain more expensive. Prices have gone up to produce anything and to produce, it’s more tricky and more difficult.

“Generally speaking, we’re expecting grocers to fight for our business as things get tighter and tighter as we progress through the year in 2023.”

While prices are expected to remain high at the grocery store in 2023, Charlebois suggests there are some ways people can try to save at the store.

“Bulk buying might not be the best thing. I suggest for people to go to visit two or three stores regularly over two or three weeks,” he said. “I would go to one store, make sure you know what the fair market value of the products on your list is, and if you see a food price being too expensive, just walk away — don’t buy it.

“One thing that has changed over the last five years is prices are much more dynamic, market positions are changing daily and consumers need to know and understand what happens (on a daily basis).”

While the price of grocery items could rise and fall in the next year, food banks are expected to continue struggling, according to Charlebois.

“I’m actually on the board of the largest food bank in Canada and we’ve seen an increase in traffic,” he explained. “Right now there’s a bit of a double whammy impacting food banks and I’m sure the Regina Food Bank will tell you the same thing, that they’re having more difficulties getting food from grocers because the market is much more careful about how it spends its money on food.

“Secondly, there’s more traffic. That’s going to be a challenging situation for food banks. It has been challenging in 2022 and unfortunately we’re not expecting things to change in 2023.”