The weakness of the Canadian dollar over the last 18 months as well as Donald Trump’s threat to impose tariffs of 25% could have the effect of increasing grocery prices.
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This is what the food industry specialist at Dalhousie University, Sylvain Charlebois, believes, who foresees a year 2025 strewn with challenges for grocers.
“I have the impression that the year 2025 is going to be a little more difficult than 2024 because of what is happening with the Americans, but above all, the Canadian dollar,” he said, in an interview on the show Quebec morning. It has weakened by 10 cents in about 18 months and it shows.”
“Grocers have to renegotiate contracts,” he adds. They pay more to import the same products, so it’s certain that it will affect retail prices.”
Donald Trump’s threat of tariffs could also lead to a surge in grocery prices.
“In the agri-food sector, 25% is enormous,” he says. We sell 40 billion worth of food products to Americans each year. If we add 25%, Americans will definitely stop buying from us.”
“If they buy, most of that $40 billion is ingredients from products that we buy in Canada,” he adds. We could see inflation in the United States, but we could also see inflation in Canada in return because of the tariffs in the United States.
Grocers are “reevaluating their options,” according to Mr. Charlebois.
“If grocers think these products are too expensive, they will go elsewhere,” he says. To go elsewhere, you have to work and develop new partnerships, but it is certain that the cheapest option is always in the United States. If this option does not exist, if we go elsewhere and pay more.”
Watch the full interview in the video above
