If the end-of-year celebrations often rhyme with sweets and other delicacies, the bill could be high due to persistent food inflation.
As pastry chefs, amateurs and professionals alike, take to the kitchen for celebrations, they come up against the high cost of all kinds of ingredients, such as butter and chocolate.
According to Statistics Canada, the average retail price of 454 grams (one pound) of butter in 2019 was just over $4. After climbing to more than $6 in 2023, it fell back to $5.71 in October.
Ontario is even experiencing butter thefts, the latest dating back to October 29, Brantford.
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Croissant prices have increased at several Toronto bakeries due to the rising cost of butter.
Photo : - / Mehrdad Nazarahari
Our professions, since COVID, have taken crisis after crisis
says Nadège Nourian, pastry chef who has been living in Toronto for 15 years. And the biggest crisis at the end of the year is that of chocolate: it rose by 50%, in two months. This is a crisis we have never seen before.
Find ways to reduce costs
If the increase in the cost of butter since 2019 has forced the Lyon pastry chef to gradually increase the price of her croissants, from $3 to $4.25 today, the chocolate crisis, on the other hand, should not be too much feel on its customers’ wallets at the end of the year, thanks to its suppliers.
We have been working with our suppliers for years, they warned us a month in advance
explains Nadège Nourian. They blocked the prices for us, and we managed to buy some in bulk to get through the holidays. It’s January that we’ll be scratching our heads to see what we’re doing.
She has already reduced her product line to contain costs and plans to create new recipes next year that require less chocolate.
Normally, we are creative with inspiration from the seasons, travel, etc. But here, we are forced to be creative in relation to the crisis.
No concession on product quality
However, there is no question of using cheaper products: We try to work with as many local products as possible, it’s something that is close to our hearts.
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Nadège Nourian, pastry chef and owner of several pastries in Toronto, says the last four years have been particularly difficult due to inflation.
Photo : - / Mehrdad Nazarahari
Same story from Marc Tournayre, who also has several bakeries and pastry shops in the Queen City.
We cannot change recipes
says the pastry chef. Our customers are accustomed to a certain taste that we have given them, we cannot take away the pleasure of this taste.
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Marc Tournayre has had to increase the price of his products twice this year, due to the rising cost of ingredients.
Photo : - / Jessica Chen
To cope with the increase in ingredients, Marc Tournayre had to increase the prices of his products twice this year. Thus, pain au chocolat, sold at $3.50 at the start of the year, is now $4.25.
It’s not just the raw material that comes into play. There are also taxes and the increase in the minimum wage.
he emphasizes. We are obliged to follow the increase, otherwise, how do we pay our employees and our rent?
For us, it is a daily challenge to maintain this same quality.
Price increases explained
According to Sylvain Charlebois, director of the Agri-Food Analytical Sciences Laboratory at Dalhousie University, the increase in food prices can be explained by the global context, and in particular by climate change.
Ivory Coast and Ghana, the two largest chocolate producers in the world, have been experiencing real difficulties producing chocolate for over a year.
notes the researcher. It is therefore expected that the price of chocolate will be maintained at a very high level for some time.
As for butter, its price can be explained through supply management
.
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According to researcher Sylvain Charlebois, community meals where everyone brings a dish are increasingly popular due to the cost of food.
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New trends emerge
On the consumer side, the agri-food expert notes new trends. During the holiday season, we want to treat ourselves a little, he says, but if the product is too expensive, people will turn to other types of recipes to avoid certain ingredients that are too expensive.
The celebrations also rely more and more on the participatory mode, according to him.
We see that the “potlucks” are becoming more and more popular due to the cost of food.
Inflation should further increase by 3 to 5% next year, according to the new annual report on food prices written by the researcher and several of his colleagues.
