Toronto/CMEDIA: In spite of Canada’s cooling of annual inflation last month, shoppers continue to see the cost of groceries rise at a faster rate, Statistics Canada says.
The agency reported Tuesday that prices for food purchased from stores increased 3.8 per cent on a year-over-year basis in April, up from 3.2 per cent year-over-year in March.
It marked the third straight month that grocery price increases have outpaced the overall inflation rate, which was 1.7 per cent in April.
Statistics Canada said items that contributed most to the increase included fresh vegetables, for which prices rose 3.7 percent, fresh or frozen beef at 16.2 percent growth, and coffee and tea at 13.4 percent.
After a 3.2 percent hike in March, Prices for food purchased from restaurants also rose at a faster rate in April, increasing 3.6 per cent year-over-year.
Shoppers feeling the weight of their growing grocery bills have likely noticed it most at the meat counter, and beef.
Meanwhile, coffee prices are rising as coffee is relative to climate change and is very temperature dependent.
Moreover a weak Canadian dollar matters worse and makes it more expensive to import.
It’s also a product subject to Canada’s retaliatory tariffs against the U.S.
Some of Canada’s large grocers have warned of looming price hikes due to added costs from U.S.-Canada tariffs.
