By Adam Donnelly

Food prices on the rise amid COVID-19 pandemic

Jul 31, 2020 | 2:52 PM

KAMLOOPS – At the Wednesday version of the Kamloops Regional Farmers Market, the bounty of local farms is on full display. Consumers were buying up onions, beans, carrots, and beets, keeping local farmers busy.

“It’s actually been quite brisk,” says Dieter Dudy, Thistle Farms owner. “We’re finding that even though fewer people tend to be coming to the market, they’re coming with a purpose. That is to buy their produce.”

COVID-19 is likely the reason many shoppers come to the market with a purpose. The pandemic has altered how some people shop for their groceries.

“I’m definitely shopping less frequently,” one Farmer’s Market customer explains. “Buying more when I’m going to the grocery store, instead of making several trips.”

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Dr. Sylvain Charlebois is the lead author of Canada’s Food Price Report. He suggests the pandemic is the main reason behind an increase in food prices.

“Things are costing more; prices are going up 3 to 4 per cent on average right now,” Charlebois explains. “It really forces households to prioritize.”

Despite the increase, Charlebois says Canadians will likely spend less money on food in 2020. That’s because many consumers are spending far less on dining out.

“Typically, households would spend 59 per cent of their budget on food at retail,” Charlebois says. “So in April, 91 per cent of all the money spent on food was spent at retail, and 9 per cent on service.”

Another customer of the Kamloops Farmer’s Market has noticed local restaurant prices have increased but understands the reasons behind that jump.

“Certainly restaurant prices have gone up,” he says. ” The business has dropped off, so they’re just barely surviving.”

Charlebois expects food prices in British Columbia to increase throughout the remainder of 2020. Part of the issue is the reliance on California for produce imports. That state has seen an increase in COVID-19 cases in the past few weeks.

“The number of cases in California is going up, which has been affecting the agri-foods sector,” Charlebois says. “We do expect B.C.’s ability to import from California to be compromised.”

Dudy says he’d rather see repeat customers accessing fresh, quality food instead of ratcheting up his prices.

“Most of my stuff is pretty much the same [price] as it was last year,” Dudy explains. “There’s no point in being in a position where we’re going to gouge people because there may be a short supply of certain food. We would rather have the fresh food and keep them coming back.”