Food price inflation easing

While prices for food purchased from stores continue to increase, the index grew at a slower pace year over year in April than in March, reports Statistics Canada.

In March the food inflation rate was 2.9 per cent and in April 1.4 per cent.

Meat contributed the most to slower price growth, largely due to a base-year effect in prices for fresh or frozen beef, which were up by 4.4 per cent,  

Other contributors to the slowdown in grocery prices were bakery and cereal products, up by two-tenths of a per cent, fruit, fruit preparations and nuts , up by eight-tenths of a per cent.

Since April 2021, food prices at supermarkets increased by 21.4 per cent.

I'm wondering what May will look like, given a whopping increase in fluid milk prices at the major supermarket chains.

 

Price growth for food purchased from restaurants also eased on a yearly basis, rising by 4.3 per cent in April 2024 following a 5.1 per cent increase in March. 

Food is the second-largest major Consumer Price Index (CPI) component. Based on 2022 expenditures, Canadians spent 16.65 per cent of their household budget to food purchases, with food purchased from stores accounting for 11.04 per cent of household budgets. 

Grocery prices are mostly captured using scanner data, also known as point-of-sale data, received directly from grocery retailers. 

Scanner data are the highest quality price data available and the gold standard for price collection. They track actual prices paid by Canadians at the till, including sales, promotions and quantity details.

The overall inflation rate in April was 2.7 per cent, down from 3.9 in March. Gasoline prices rose by eight per cent.

                  

 

Pelleting hog feed improves digestibility

Pelleting corn-based hog rations increases digestibility, according to research at the University of Illinois.

But so, too, does decreasing particle size in regular meal rations. In fact, small particle size was more beneficial than pelleting.

The research team compared results from six different hog rations. They compared three different particle sizes and pelleted or meal rations.

PED hits two nursery barns

 

Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea has broken out at two nursery barns, one in Huron County, the other in Wellington County.

The disease often has a high mortality rate among piglets.

There have been 17 PED outbreaks since the beginning of April.

Feds invest $9.6 million in hog preparedness

 

The federal agriculture department is investing almost $9.6 million to help the hog industry prepare for an outbreak of African Swine Fever, announced Francis Drouin, parliamentary secretary to Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay.

Some of it is for a new device that can provide on-farm testing for the virus. The Canadian Pork Council worked with McMaster University to develop the ASFMeter which is portable and can conduct a test at low cost.

Other projects include improving biosecurity, managing wild pig activities, retrofitting abattoirs, regional depopulation plans and sector analysis and education programs, Drouin said.

René Roy, chairman of the Canadian Pork Council, said the collaboration with McMaster and the federal agriculture department “brings together expertise in research and technology, ensuring that the ASFMeter meets the rigorous standards required for rapid and accurate ASF detection.”

Sweda changes lawyers again

 

Sweda Farms Ltd., owned by Svante Lind of Blackstock, has changed its legal firm again to pursue its lawsuit against L.H. Gray and Son Ltd. and the Egg Farmers of Ontario marketing board.

The new one is Wagner Sidlofsky. The previous one was Blaney McMurtry and before that Donald Good.

The original lawsuit, which included Burnbrae Farms Ltd., was filed in 2008.

In a nutshell, Lind believes that the two dominant egg-grading companies, which account for about 90 per cent of Ontario’s eggs, conspired with the egg board to drive his egg-grading station out of business.

The egg board claimed Lind’s egg-grading business was cheating it out of levies which apply only to Grade A eggs by culling out a larger percentage of eggs than the provincial average.

Lind countered that the two were including cracked eggs in their Grade As, an allegation that Ontario Farmer confirmed by obtaining the results of random sample testing by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.

Lind also claimed that e-mails between Gray and Burnbrae indicated they colluded over market shares and pricing.

All three defendants have denied any wrongdoing and Burnbrae has been dismissed from the lawsuit after Good failed to demand Burnbrae furnish documents to match e-mails to and from Gray.

The judge ruled that meant there was insufficient evidence against Burnbrae.

Lone Star restaurant signs on with Corn Fed Beef

 

Lone Star Texas Grill in Ottawa is offering Ontario Corn Fed Beef at its 23 restaurants in Ontario.

The chain was started kin 1986 by two football players from Texas who came to like living in Ottawa.

It serves Tex-Mex dishes with an emphasis on beef.

“The partnership with Ontario Beef is an important one,” said Lyndon O’Hearn, director purchasing for Lone Star. 

“As an Ontario company, we wanted to connect with Ontario beef farmers to bring high quality locally produced Ontario beef to our menu. 

“The consistent great taste of Ontario Corn Fed Beef aligns well with our commitment to quality.”

Politically correct burger flops

 

A politically correct hamburger is not selling well in Australia.

Grill’d, a retailer with 61 stores, has found little public enthusiasm for its low-methane beef, so it cutting off supplies to all but seven of its stores.

Those seven are located in “environmentally-aware” communities., the company said.

A Grill’d executive told Australian industry news site Beef Central that the burgers would now be priced the same as standard beef versions. They were charging $1 extra for the Gamechanger burgers.

The company said the Gamechanger is made from cattle belching and farting two-thirds less climate-changing methane. Grill’d called it “the world’s first all-natural sustainable beef burger” when rolling out the sandwiches in January 2023.

The company sources its Gamechanger hamburger from Angus herds raised on grass and fed seaweed pellets to lower methane gas emissions.

Grill’d also markets vegetarian  burgers, chicken sandwiches, wagyu beef and lamb burgers. 

The company has a history of short-lived sustainability experiments, including an entirely plant-based menu at a few locations, and a no-meat menu once a week, Meat Central reported.