Price increase in grocery store in 2025: Quebecers fear 10% food inflation and change their purchasing habits

Quebecers are made so pessimistic in the face of the rise in the price of food that they think that a new leap of 10% of the basket awaits them in 2025.

This is what we discover in a new report published Tuesday by Dalhousie University. This food consumption index is a biennual survey that offers an overview of purchasing trends, confidence in industry and consumer priorities.

Quebecers are 80% to have noticed an increase in prices at the grocery store in the past year. Consumers’ concern also skyrocketed.

Canadians spend an average $ 310 per month for their grocery store and nearly $ 200 in catering, the index said. “Food is the main source of concern,” say the authors.

The trend does not seem to be reversed: expectations for the next 12 months report early food inflation of more than 10%.

Bulk and young people on credit

Gilles Brodeau, 78, is already buying almost no more fruit. The retiree finds it difficult to follow the cost of the grocery basket with his pension.

“It’s made too expensive,” he says. Faced with this reality, habits change and people turn to the purchase in bulk and the discounts.

“Bulk is really what is popular,” says Sylvain Charlebois, food expert at Dalhousie University.

On the other hand, high -end foods and coupons lose ground. Consumers, already as much as possible their frugal efforts, juggle their priorities to keep the fridge full.

Generation Z is particularly vulnerable. Many must draw from their savings – or their credit – to eat their hunger.

“The youngest tear it away,” says Charlebois. On the other hand, the baby boomers seem to be better faced with the rise in costs.

What to predict as an increase?

In this tense context, food values ​​are evolving. Affairs now surpasses all other considerations, before nutrition, taste and environmental concerns.

Another notable trend: the growing interest in local foods, especially in the spring. Baby-boomers and generation Z are at the top of this turn.

At 32, Fleur Maury is not ready to make a cross on the healthy foods she buys, but she is looking forward to in the summer to frequent public procurement.

“We have the Atwater market or the Jean-Talon market, basically it’s cheaper to buy there,” she says.

Despite everything, confidence in the food system goes back. Consumers say they have more faith in their grocers, whether they are independents or large chains.

Good news, tempers Charlebois: “The increases will be modest. We are still in the range of 3 to 5% scheduled for December. ”

But, for millions of Canadians, even a “modest” increase is likely to be a bite too much.

– with the collaboration of Amanda Moisan, of the agency QMI