Soaring food prices are changing the way Canadians shop for groceries
Rising food costs are leading consumers to pivot away from shopping at food and beverage stores to less costly general merchandisers instead, Statistics Canada reports.
General merchandise is classified as a large department or discount store, which includes retailers such as warehouse clubs and supercentres, StatCan said in its report published Wednesday.
The shift aligns with changing consumer trends resulting from food inflation, such as a decrease in the volume of food purchased and reducing shopping at pricier food and beverage stores.
“While food inflation has eased in recent months—falling out of double-digit territory in March and April 2023—prices for many grocery items have continued to increase month after month and, on balance, are 20% above levels reported two years earlier,” the report by StatCan says.
Food sales at food and beverage stores prior to the COVID-19 pandemic accounted for 73 per cent of all retail food purchases, the agency reports. During the pandemic years, food sales at general merchandise stores increased from 21.6 per cent in early 2021 to 25.9 per cent in late 2022.
While purchasing at food and beverage stores has decreased overall, the country’s largest grocers continue to post profits.
Loblaw beat Wall Street expectations for second-quarter revenue and profit, maintaining its annual profit forecast growth in the low double digits, according to its latest earnings report Wednesday.
The company’s revenue rose 6.9 per cent to $13.74 billion in the quarter that ended June 17, compared with analysts’ average estimate of $13.63 billion, according to Refinitiv data.
Its profit rose by 31.3 per cent to $508 million for the quarter.
StatCan’s latest Consumer Price Index report for June released
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