Canadians brace for impact of food inflation as holiday season approaches: Report

Canadians are ready to revive their Thanksgiving and holiday traditions after years of socially distanced festivities. But with decades-high inflation driving up food prices, consumers are taking steps to stretch their grocery spending. 

A new report from Butterball found the majority of Canadians are planning to celebrate Thanksgiving (66%) and the holidays (78%) this year by hosting friends and family or attending a gathering. 

But many – around three quarters – anticipate higher grocery bills will impact those celebrations. In particular, millennials and gen X expect to bear the brunt of inflation this holiday season. 

Despite those concerns, almost half of hosts won’t be scaling back their spread. Around 30% of respondents plan to save money by buying in bulk or opting for cost-effective menus, even as 69% plan to include turkey as the main dish.

The findings comes as Dalhousie University’s Agri-Food Analytics Lab, in partnership with Caddle, released its findings on how Canadians are coping with higher food prices. Many reported using loyalty program points to pay for groceries (33.7%), as well as weekly flyers (32.1%) and coupons (23.9%).