My wife and I, and another couple were discussing food prices at an event last week. I would rather talk about sports and news, but I played along. Specifically, we talked about the boycott of Loblaw stores. The other couple is all in for the boycott, while Sandy and I are not in to the same extent. We have a neighbourhood Loblaw store and will go to it when we need a bag full of items. Non-Loblaw stores are three to five kilometres away. It doesn’t make sense to drive to them to be part of a boycott. I don’t mind shopping for groceries, but I am not a good shopper. Irresponsible might be a better word. My shortcoming, one of many, is I don’t pay enough attention to prices. Thus, I decided to do an online search to find out what is going on.

Last fall, Statistics Canada said grocery prices rose faster than inflation — 11.4 per cent vs. 6.9 per cent. This is not good, especially for low-income folks, and seniors — like me — for examples. Like many people of my age, I count on the pension cheques every month to help with expenses. Loblaw has said it makes four cents on every dollar of items sold. I want to call BS on that. I don’t know much about stock markets, but the first quarter of 2024 was kind to Loblaw. Loblaw companies reported a profit of $459 million in three months. That’s a couple of billion for the year, give or take a few million. Loblaw says more people went to its stores and prices were less than the level of food inflation. The company said prices at its stores rose less than the general level of food inflation tracked by the Consumer Price Index. By comparison, Sobeys net earnings were $134 million in the first quarter of its fiscal year. That’s not peanuts either, and Sobeys has much fewer stores in the country. Among Loblaw’s stores in this part of the world are the Real Canadian Superstore, No Frills, Independent and Shoppers Drug Mart. The Joe Fresh clothing line is a Loblaw company. Loblaw has 2,400 stores under the company’s wing in Canada. Sobeys has 1,600.

As I mentioned a few hundred words ago, if we need a loaf of bread, I check the best-before date and buy it. Milk, cream, dog food, Fruit Loops, I have no idea what they cost and how much the cost has increased unless my wife, Sandy, tells me. We have passed on some items when she says the price is ridiculous. Those items tend to be my favourites, but let’s leave that for a future column. I get it when something is two for $10, or one for $5.50. When we need something and it comes in two sizes, I will do the math to make sure the bigger one is a better deal than the two small ones. When the gas gauge on my car shows less than a quarter tank, I stop at a gas station and fill it up. My mother told me a sleeve of Kit Kat chocolate bars has jumped from $2 to $2.99. They are worth the extra 99 cents that she pays.

Anyway, thank goodness Sandy pays attention to prices. It has changed our shopping and eating habits somewhat. We buy more things in bulk, which means making more trips to Costco. We scour the deals in end caps of grocery stores, especially in meat departments. Sandy will say something is a good deal, and I always agree, even when I don’t know the regular price from the discounted one. It is a battle between our neighbour hood Loblaw store and Walmart to get our ice cream business. Sandy knows the price of the ice cream changes frequently. I have picked up on that. She likes buying it for $5.99, not $7.99 as it sometimes is. When we found it at $4.99, we did cartwheels in the aisle of Walmart. Wiener prices have been crazy. A 10 pack was $3.50 more at a Loblaw store than at Walmart. I love hot dogs. The other day, I had wieners cut into KD. Heavenly. (Note: this gourmet meal was for my grandchildren, but I got some of the leftovers. Actually, most of the leftovers.)

What will this year bring in grocery prices? Canada’s Food Price Report says we will see an increase of 2.5 to 4.5 per cent in grocery prices this year. That compares with 5.9 per cent in 2023 and 10.3 per cent in 2022.

Here are some predictions from the Food Price Report:

• Bakery: Prices are expected to increase by 5-7 per cent.

• Dairy: Anticipated increase of one to three per cent.

• Fruit: Expected rise of one to three per cent.

• Meat: Prices may go up by five to seven per cent.

• Restaurants: Costs at restaurants could jump by three to five per cent.

• Seafood: Anticipated increase of three to five per cent.

• Vegetables: Prices may rise by five to seven per cent.

• Some food products are expected to have lower prices. Coffee, flour, wheat, and dry pasta fall into this category.

• Dairy prices are projected to increase by what is termed as a reasonable 1.7 to 2 per cent.

My goal for the rest of 2024 is to know the price of five or six items in a grocery store — and the price of a litre of gas.

-Cam Hutchinson