For Canadian grocers, recent cauliflower woes should serve as a cautionary tale on buyers’ hypersensitivity to price.

Cauliflower hysteria offers lessons for Canadian consumers

Food inflation is hammering consumers, but there are ways to reduce price pressure

Food inflation is top of mind for Canadian consumers, with rampant claims about produce being grossly overpriced. And the latest consumer price index (CPI) report won’t calm Canadian shoppers any time soon, since food inflation stands at 4.1 per cent. That’s a significant contrast to the -0.4 per cent in food inflation reported in the

Lisa Dyck with her ice cream product

Program helps more Manitoba companies reach markets

A spring launch at Red River Co-ops puts 60 new products from 17 companies on store shelves

More niche and specialty made-in-Manitoba products will catch the eye of customers with the launch of 60 additional new products through the provincial Buy Manitoba program. The Manitoba Food Processors Association (MFPA) has helped Red River Co-op stores in Winnipeg link up with more than a dozen local food companies. It means new exposure for


overhead view of the city of Brandon

Study reveals downtown Brandon is a ‘food desert’

Brandon food study reveals some have 
a long trip to grocery stores

Forty minutes in a car can take you from one town to the next in Westman, but that’s as long as some Brandonites spend riding the bus one way to go for groceries in the city. Lack of access to grocery stores is highlighted in a new report, called the Brandon Community Food Assessment, released

Campaign will highlight local food products

A $3-million jointly funded industry and government campaign supporting local food kicks off April 25

Manitobans can now clearly identify local food on store shelves with the launch of a new Buy Manitoba campaign at Canada Safeway stores in the province. The three-year local food promotion will see 33 stores decked out with sign-age and product identifiers encouraging shoppers to choose the more than 1,000 grocery products, including meat, fresh

Store brand foods challenge processors

The growing presence of retailer branded products on grocery store shelves threatens the future of many processors, says Derek Nighbor, senior vice-president of public and regulatory affairs at Food and Consumer Products of Canada. “We have seen a shift from national brands to store brands on retail shelves right across the country,” Nighbor told the


Saving Money At The Grocery Store

NDSU Extension Service I watched the increasing tally on the computer display as the grocery store checkout clerk scanned my food items. I could feel my eyebrows rising and my eyes widening. I had shopped for fewer items during most of my recent shopping trips. This time, I had a cartful of groceries to restock

Food Processors Anxious To See Buy Local Program Roll Out

The Manitoba Food Processors Association is welcoming a provincial commitment in last week’s throne speech to launch a “buy local” program. “We’ve been pushing for this for literally eight to 10 years,” said Dave Shambrock, MFPA’s executive director. He also heads up an ad hoc committee that began meeting nearly two years ago to plan

U. S. finalizes meat label rule, WTO dispute looms

The White House is on track to finalize rules that require country-of-origin labels on meat sold in U. S. grocery stores and are challenged by Canada as a violation of world trade rules, officials said Dec. 10. Labelling became mandatory on Sept. 30 under an interim rule. The Agriculture Department says it will allow a


Grocery margins seen rising, but not for long

Supermarkets in Canada seem to have taken price hikes to “bold new levels” in the third quarter of 2008, but shouldn’t expect wider margins to last, according to the George Morris Centre. A Nov. 13 essay by Kevin Grier, senior market analyst for the Guelph-based farm think-tank, points to a seven per cent increase in