Supply chain issues and bad weather behind soaring grocery prices, experts say

Supply chain issues due to the COVID-19 pandemic and bad weather are to blame for increased grocery prices, which have changed Canadian shopping habits, according to experts.

"It's been going up about 15 to 20 per cent, I'd say, over the summer," butcher and chef Peter Sanagan told CTV News.

Statistics Canada reported in August that a 500-gram package of bacon, on average, had crossed the $8 threshold for the first time.

But the increase in price is not restricted to bacon. Experts have noticed the cost of chicken, beef and pork have all gone up as well.

"Beef is up at least 12 per cent," Sylvain Charlesbois, director of Dalhousie University's Agri-Food Analytics Lab in Halifax, told CTV News. "Some cuts are up 30 per cent."