There are no short-term fixes for sky-high food costs, experts say

Your grocery bill is much higher than it used to be.

The latest inflation numbers from Statistics Canada show that while overall inflation fell to 5.9 per cent in January, food prices are up 10.4 per cent compared to last year. That number is up slightly from December's 10.1 per cent.

"Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, many factors have impacted prices at the grocery store, such as supply chain disruptions, labour shortages, changes in consumer purchasing patterns, poor weather in some growing regions, tariffs, higher input costs and higher wages," StatsCan said in a Nov. 2022 report about the rising cost of food. 

The report adds that Russia's invasion of Ukraine has also played a part because of the importance of both countries in food production.

The issue has proven serious enough to convince a parliamentary committee to launch a study of higher food prices and how government might address them. But experts tell CBC News governments don't have many good options to bring food prices down — although they could offer relief for the poor and hungry.

While StatsCan has pointed to a wide range of factors leading to higher food prices, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has blamed privately-owned corporations. Singh has labelled the rising prices "greedflation."

Singh has called for a new tax on grocery chain profits to address the issue. He said revenue from that tax could be used to help those struggling with their bills.

"Fifteen super-profitable industries — including the grocery sector — are driving inflation in Canada," Singh said in a Dec. 2022 news release.

"Prime Minister Justin Trudeau should implement a windfall tax to make these big grocery chains pay what they owe."

Canadian grocery giant Loblaw reported $529 million in fourth quarter profits earlier this week, beating analysts' expectations.

In testimony before the House of Commons agriculture and agrifood committee — the committee studying food price inflation — Jodat Hussein, Loblaw's senior vice-president of retail finance, said most of the company's profits are not coming from high margins on food. He said the company's food suppliers increased their prices, which Loblaw then had to pass on to customers.

"We are dependent on what suppliers charge us when we set our retail prices," Hussein told the committee in his December 2022 testimony.

"Fundamentally, grocery prices are up because the cost of what grocers buy from suppliers have gone up."

Hussein said the company's profits were coming from other areas Loblaw does business in, such as pharmaceuticals.