Canadians Look for New Ways to Cut Grocery Bills as Food Costs Remain a Top Worry: Surve

A survey of Canadians’ perceptions around food affordability and purchasing behaviours suggests that consumers have changed how they shop, cook and eat in response to rising prices.

 

The latest edition of the Canadian Food Sentiment Index, released by Dalhousie University’s Agri-Food Analytics Lab in partnership with online data platform Caddle, says food remains the dominate household financial concern for Canadians, with more than four-in-five survey respondents indicating it’s their top expense pressure.

 

Half of the nearly 3,000 respondents to the survey conducted last month say food costs increased “significantly” over the past year, while just over one-third indicate their food expenses were up “slightly” and close to 12 per cent say they stayed the same.

 

About 20 per cent of Canadians say they now spend more than $600 per month on food at home — up slightly from the last biannual food sentiment index in the spring, while a combined 46.4 per cent spend between $300 and $600 monthly.

 

Almost half of those surveyed indicate they changed their grocery habits due to food price inflation by seeking out sales and discounts, while around 23 per cent say they tried using more coupons, shopping online for better prices or going to cheaper stores.

 

The report also found that trust in major food retailers continues to erode, with more Canadians feeling disconnected from how prices are set and frustrated by a lack of transparency, while support for Canadian-grown and Canadian-made foods is rising.

 

 

 

 

This article was first reported by The Canadian Press