From checkout shock to borrowing: The new reality of Canada’s grocery struggle

For many Canadians, the grocery store has become a place where every aisle comes with a calculation.

Dr. Sylvain Charlebois, senior director of the Agri-food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University in Halifax, said the pressure at the checkout is revealing a bigger story about affordability and rising costs.

Charlebois joined guest host Tamara Cherry on The Evan Bray Show on Thursday to discuss the struggles many are facing at the grocery stores.

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Listen to the full interview, or read the transcript below:

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

TAMARA CHERRY: There was one poll from a licensed insolvency trustee that showed this year that 22% of Canadians say they’ve used ‘buy now pay later’ for groceries and household essentials. How do you react to that?

SYLVAIN CHARLEBOIS: I’m not surprised. This is the clear product of a K-shaped economy, and a lot of people listening to us right now, they’re not affected by food inflation at all. They go to a grocery store, they buy what they want. They may be a little bit careful because they have a budget, but many Canadians are out there buying what they want. The reality is that a K-shaped economy really erodes the middle class. It separates society into two classes: The haves and the have-nots, and so the haves are out there buying the lobster and the beef and all those luxury products, but the have-nots are exposed to the same market conditions. So, when they see beef prices go up and everything going up in price, often they just can’t keep up and have to start borrowing. And this is only going to continue. If our focus is not about wealth creation in this country we’re going to continue to see our middle class erode, and that’s why market conditions for the have-nots will only get worse for them.

The Carney government launched a $3.2 billion national food security strategy last month (June). Will this strategy actually help people who are financing their groceries right now?

CHARLEBOIS: The strategy actually did include some good ideas. The problem we have in Canada versus other countries around the world is that whenever they actually implement a food strategy, it is highly connected with consumption – consumption domestically and internationally. I see no connection between the two. I see the food guide in Canada. I see trends in Canada. I see consumers looking for different products. I don’t see a strategy linking what we need to produce effectively to offer an affordable diet to Canadians. Even the food guide is somewhat disconnected, and so there’s a lot of different ideas being thrown at Canadians right now from Agriculture Canada, from Health Canada, from the CFI (Canadian Foundation for Innovation) but there’s just no coherence whatsoever.

Given how unpredictable gas prices are currently, how much does that affect food prices?

CHARLEBOIS: It’s a big factor. It’s as much of a factor as our currency. Some categories are highly affected by higher energy costs, and I’m thinking about frozen produce and meats. We need to appreciate that our food supply chain is energy intensive, and so when energy costs go up, it’s not surprising, what we’re seeing with produce. We are expecting new inflation numbers next week, we’re expecting produce to remain a problem because of energy costs, because a lot of our food comes from far away.

If you could give Canadians just one piece of advice to lower their grocery bill, what would it be?

CHARLEBOIS: I’m not even sure if shoppers in Saskatchewan need my advice because I do think that most people are much more strategic about grocery shopping. They actually know how much they should be paying for whatever products they’re looking for, and if you know that before even walking out of your home, you’re in good shape, and just continue on that path.