Food prices show signs of slowing: Study

Food inflation remains elevated throughout Canada, but shows signs of slowing, finds the latest study from Technomic, Inc. Overall, prices for groceries grew 9.7% in Canada this March, a slight decline from the nearly 11% growth the sector say in February. 

Lower prices for fresh fruits and vegetables helped steer prices down. Despite the decline in prices, the price of food continues to outpace the general consumer price index (CPI), which rose by 4.3% that month. 

[Read more: “Canada’s inflation rate falls to 4.3% in March”]

The Canadian Food Price indices show that food prices peaked in the fall last year, at 11.4% in September and November. Prices at restaurants also showed signs of slowing down, increasing by 7.2% in March, following a 7.7% increase in February. Menu prices peaked this past January, but have been hovering near 8% since October 2022. 

New product launches

Of all consumers, millennials found new and exciting product offers as a large traffic driver. Technomic suggests that millennials raising families and nurturing their careers may seek new and exciting food options that they could not typically replicate at home. 

In general, Technomic found new product launches to be more of a restaurant and foodservice traffic driver for younger customers like Gen Z, millennials and Gen X than older generations. 

[Read more: “Make your first-impression count”]

When asked to rate the importance of new and exciting products as a restaurant driver 23% of millennials rated it as very important, followed by 19% of Gen Zers, 17% of Gen Xers, 14% of Baby Boomers and 13% for Mature generations. 

Technomic provides insights into consumer, industry and menu trends in Canada, the U.S. and 23 countries around the world.