Reading Time: < 1 minute Canadian retail sales fell by 0.2 per cent in October from September to $69.44 billion, on lower sales at food and beverage retailers, Statistics Canada said on Friday.
Canada October retail sales down 0.2 per cent; seen up 1.2 per cent in November
Farmers are losing the perception battle on food prices
[Make It Count: The Battle] No wonder consumers are confused. One moment we say the carbon tax will drive up the cost of food. The next we say it can’t
Reading Time: 6 minutes Like many farmers I am worried about the the misunderstandings the general public has about farming and where their food comes from. This concern has prompted me to spend many hours in classrooms talking to students about agriculture. For a number of years, I was a regional co-ordinator for the classroom agriculture program arranging speakers […] Read more
Canadian food inflation to slow through 2024, report says
More certainty has brought an uptick in grocer promotions, but consumers are struggling
Reading Time: 3 minutes Canadian food prices are expected to rise between 2.5 and 4.5 per cent in 2024, according to a new report.
“It is probable that Canadians will continue to experience the strain of food inflation compounded by increasing costs of housing, energy and various other expenditures,” according to Canada’s Food Price Report 2024.
U.S. livestock: Cattle retreat as energy rally dents beef demand outlook
Lean hog futures mostly also lower
Reading Time: < 1 minute Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange cattle futures fell on Friday as traders banked profits and squared positions ahead of the weekend as geopolitical turmoil riled energy markets and stoked concerns about beef demand. Crude oil rallied more than five per cent on Friday on the escalating Middle East conflict as the Israeli military […] Read more
Major grocery chains agree to help stabilize prices, feds say
Any moves must not undercut farmgate prices, government warns
Reading Time: 2 minutes Ottawa | Reuters — Canada’s five major grocery chains have agreed to help the government in its bid to stabilize soaring prices, a senior minister said on Monday, following talks to address an issue that is hurting the ruling Liberals. Innovation Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne made the announcement after two hours of what he said were […] Read more
Food sales grew but margins tightened in 2022, FCC says
Modest further growth expected this year
Reading Time: 2 minutes Food and beverages sales increased in Canada last year, even as margins hit an historic low and consumers chose Canadian less. According to the latest FCC Food and Beverage Report, released Tuesday, sales increased 11 per cent to $156 billion in 2022. These gains came largely from higher export values and strength in the grain […] Read more
Policies and regulations may be the biggest risk of all
Futurology: Is the future's biggest danger climate change? A runaway virus? No, says Alanna Koch. It's governments that can't stop regulating
Reading Time: 3 minutes Alanna Koch sees many sides of the agriculture sector. First, she’s a farmer, part of a family grain farm near Regina. Off-farm, she’s the chair of the Global Institute for Food Security, the chair of CN’s ag advisory council, and a board member at SeedMaster, an ag equipment manufacturer. Previously, she was the deputy minister […] Read more
U.S. livestock: CME lean hogs drop to January lows on demand worries
Live cattle up, feeder cattle down
Reading Time: < 1 minute Chicago | Reuters — CME lean hog futures on Wednesday fell to their lowest prices since January amid concerns about demand for U.S. pork, analysts said. Inflation and a decline in U.S. pork exports to China, the world’s top pork consumer, are hurting demand, analysts said. The consumer price index rose 8.3 per cent in […] Read more
Quebec group seeks to sue beef packers over pricing
Group's class-action application alleges price-fixing dating back to 2015
Reading Time: 2 minutes A Quebec consumer protection group intends to launch a class action lawsuit against four major beef processors in Canada and the U.S., alleging a “meat pricing conspiracy.” “At a time of high inflation, it is unacceptable to make the price of beef even more expensive than it already is,” Sylvie De Bellefeuille, a lawyer for […] Read more
AgriCommunication plan to seek farmer-consumer dialogue
Ag exhibitions among expected beneficiaries
Reading Time: 3 minutes The federal government has put up new funding toward improving consumers’ awareness of the “strengths” of Canada’s ag sector — and to improve farmer awareness of what those consumers want and expect. Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau on Thursday announced an $8 million, three-year funding envelope for the first of two streams of what’s now called […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
