Ultimately, 24 hours can bring a world of change for grocery stores.
Within that time, Munther Zeid could check the prices of 20 items in Food Fare.
“As the orders come in, we update the labels,” said the owner of the supermarket chain. “I had never seen anything like it”.
At the pre-pandemic and inflation peak, Food Fare would change about a dozen prices a week, Zeid said.
“Everything is going up…it seems to be the whole store,” he said. “There are suppliers that charge delivery fees or fuel surcharges, which increases the cost of goods.”
He called regular price increases frustrating and wondered if supplier costs will ever go down.
“In the end, who pays for everything? The customer,” he said.
More than a third of Canadians, 38 percent, call money their biggest stressor, according to the FP Canada 2022 Financial Stress Index. The financial planning organization released the results Tuesday.
Financial stress outweighs stress related to personal health, work and relationships, according to the Stress Index survey.
Food, gasoline, and the impact of inflation on the cost of goods and services were the top three contributors to financial stress for respondents, at 68%, 56%, and 55%, respectively.
Nearly all of those surveyed, 92 percent, were concerned about the rising cost of living.
“You have to think twice before buying something,” said Rahul Hans, who was shopping at a Walmart on Wednesday.
“You have children, you have family, you always have to spend on so many things.”
Hans quit his job as an Uber driver last month due to gas prices and wages and now drives for the city of Winnipeg. Still, he is aware of the products he puts in his shopping cart.
“In the beginning, we bought what we wanted. Now, we are just picky,” he said.
Manitoba’s year-on-year inflation rate increased 7.5% in April, exceeding the national average of 6.8%.
The stress index survey was conducted through Leger’s online panel from April 12-20. A probability sample of the same size would return a margin of error of +/- 2.2 percent, 19 times out of 20.
gabrielle piche
Reporter
Gabby is a huge fan of people, writing, and learning. She graduated from Red River College’s Creative Communications program in the spring of 2020.
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