If you’ve recently resisted eating butter, coughed on coffee, or choked in the chocolate aisle, you’re not alone.
Food costs have been skyrocketing for more than a year, and grocery inflation has been on an overall upward trend since April 2024, according to Statistics Canada. Shoppers paid four percent more at the supermarket in September than in the same period last year.
But some items have hurt our wallets more than others. Beef, coffee, and candy are among some of the worst offenders, but what else contributes to your grocery bills?
Let’s look at some of the most expensive grocery items and explain why they cost so much.
Coffee is number 1
You know what they say about the ones you love the most, right? Well, coffee has been hurting us with skyrocketing prices for months.
The price of coffee rose 28.6 per cent over the past year, more than any other food item tracked by Statistics Canada’s consumer price index. And it gets worse when you separate “real” coffee from instant. Prices for roasted or ground coffee increased 41 percent in September compared to September last year.
Retail data from Statistics Canada showed that the average monthly price of 340 grams of roasted or ground coffee has skyrocketed 34 percent since January alone. One of those large tubs (864 grams) from Maxwell House ground coffee was $20 at Loblaws when CBC News searched online Monday, and a 915-gram jar of Nabob Bold was a whopping $35.99 at Sobeys.
Even Tim Hortons had to raise the price of a cup of coffee for the first time in three years this month, confirming with CBC News that was adjusting its price by “about three cents a cup.”
But why? Well, earlier this year, World prices reach record levels due to supply problems in the main producing countries such as Brazil and Vietnam.
At the same time, US tariffs on products from Brazil have disrupted the global coffee market, driving up prices.
Canadians paid almost 30 per cent more for coffee from their stores in August compared to a year ago, according to Statistics Canada’s most recent report on consumer inflation. This reflects when the price of a cup of coffee tripled in the mid-1990s, after weather in Brazil, Indonesia and East Africa caused a global harvest failure.
A meat with beef
Next on the list? Meat in general, and beef more than any other.
tThe price of fresh or frozen beef increased 14 percent year over year. in September. Almost every style or cut of meat experienced double-digit price increases (the exception, if you can call it that, was ffresh or frozen beef rump cuts, which saw a price increase of 9.9 percent from 2024).
But ground beef, fresh or frozen, was the worst, with a price increase of 17.4 percent in one year. Retail data from Statistics Canada showed that the monthly average price of ground beef was $15.06 per kilogram in August.
CBC News looked online at prices for lean fresh ground beef at some grocery stores on Monday, and a kilogram was $22.02 at Loblaws and Metro, and $19.82 per kilogram at Sobeys (on sale from $21.58 per kilogram). A 12-pack of four-ounce No Name Frozen Beef Patties costs $18 at Loblaws and $14.99 at Food Basics.
Those high prices are because persistent droughts are reducing herds in Western Canada and the cost of feed is higher.
We’re sorry to tell you that the price of bacon also contributed to the rising cost of meat, skyrocketing 8.2 percent year over year. Canned salmon also stood out, with a price increase of 8.3 percent.
The cost of meat products in Canada continues to rise, largely because consecutive years of drought in Alberta and Saskatchewan have forced ranchers to raise smaller herds, meaning less meat for everyone.
Nuts are nuts
Are you thinking of reducing your financial losses and getting your protein intake from nuts? Think again.
At 15.7 percent year over year, nuts and seeds actually saw higher inflation in September than fresh or frozen beef. With dried and dehydrated fruits also up 10.9 percent, your favorite trail mix may seem like a luxury item these days (a bag at Loblaws is $18 right now).
There are a few reasons for the rise in nut prices. For example, Canada imports most of its nuts from the United States, where many nut producers had a smaller than usual harvest in 2024. Some nuts, such as pistachios, also saw a huge increase in demand.
As FoodCom’s global nuts market overview notes, climate change, logistics costs, and food trends (hello, pistachio!) played a major role. And then there’s politics: Trump’s tariffs also caused economic upheaval in the nut industry over the past year.
Dubai chocolate went viral on TikTok and has contributed to the global shortage of pistachios. Pam Williams of Ecole Chocolat says these trends are the future of chocolate making, because they mix high-quality ingredients that people love.
Not even chocolate!
We are sorry. But the candy aisle doesn’t look very good either. Prices of confectionery products, which include chocolate, rose 10.4 percent in September compared to a year earlier. Statistics Canada said.
Cocoa prices have more than doubled in the last two years due to bad weather and illness in west africawhich supplies more than 70 percent of the world’s cocoa, explains the Associated Press.
Reuters adds that wholesale cocoa prices have fallen from the highs of late 2024, but manufacturers continue to pass increased costs on to consumers.
The news agency also explains that companies are reducing seasonal product lines and implementing “shrinkflation,” something you may have noticed when purchasing Halloween candy this year.
DO is not okay
Fruit juices also rose in September, with prices increasing by 10.5 percent compared to the previous year.
Orange juice prices have always been volatile, as The Associated Press notes.
Prices fall when bumper crops create an oversupply of oranges and rise when frost or a hurricane destroys fruit trees.
The average monthly retail price of a two-liter case soared in August to $6.29 from $5.62 in January. Apple juice, by comparison, has remained relatively stable, hovering around $3.85 for months.
Berries and cucumbers
Finally, we have good news, bad news.
Let’s start with the good. Amid a month of mostly rising prices, some actually fell, but none more so than berries, which fell 13 percent compared to September prices of last year.
This could be due to a few potential factors: increased domestic production (especially blueberries, strawberries and blueberries, according to Agriculture Canada), plus an increase in blueberry imports from Morocco last spring.
But now, the bad news: While most foods experience some sort of fluctuation from month to month, cucumber, of all things, was truly fantastic. In September, the price of cucumber increased 24.7 percent compared to the previous month, the largest monthly change by far.
Cucumber prices only increased 2.2 percent year over year, so what the heck happened between August and September? It’s actually quite simple, according to the Financial Post: the local cucumber growing season typically ends in September, so lower supply drives up prices. Additionally, more will be imported, which also increases the price.
From August to September 2024, for example, cucumber prices increased by 16 percent (compared to 6.2 percent year-on-year). And when you look at the average monthly retail price going back five years, cucumber prices are seasonal: they rise in the fall, peak in the winter, and fall in the spring.
