Soaring food prices got you down? Here’s how to save money

The cost of groceries has shot up 9.7 per cent in 2022 so far, according to Sylvain Charlebois, the self-proclaimed “Food Professor.”

“That will be the highest rate we've seen in 40 years. So it's quite significant,” says Charlebois, who is the director of the Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University.  

“Not one section of the grocery store has been immune to what's been happening with prices.” 

Charlebois notes, however, there are some things Canadians can do to keep more money in their wallets.

Eat what you buy. Waste less:  “The average family in Canada will waste anywhere between 25 (hundred) to $3,000 worth of food a year. That's a lot of money.”

Keep up with inflation: “If you show up at the grocery store with a grocery list, not knowing how much you should be paying for each item on your grocery list, you haven't done enough research.”

Shop around: “If you actually visit discount stores more often, you could save anywhere between 30 to 40 per cent. So those savings are quite substantial.” 

Fred Bouzide, owner of Fred’s Farm Fresh, a grocery store and greenhouse business in Windsor, Ont. admits they aren’t selling as much as they used to when prices were reasonable. 

“But people are still buying,” says Bouzide who says their most popular item this summer is AAA steaks.

“People are not going out as much. (They’re) staying home and barbecuing, parties at the house and pool parties, which is helping us quite a bit right now,” says Bouzide while noting the cost of beef has gone up about 20 to 30 per cent in the last year. 

Bouzide says, however, other meats like pork and chicken are starting to be more “reasonable.”

Chicken he says shot up in the last year by about $2 more a pound, to $7 or $8 a pound but is “starting to come down”.

Bouzide tells CTV News it’s rare for customers to complain at the cash about the cost of food. 

“People are just getting used to it, like gasoline,” says Bouzide. “You know, they got to put the gas in the car. You got to put food in your mouth.”