Food Prices and Overall Food Costs - Canada - August 2024

Source - Stats Canada

Labour disruption:

On Tuesday, nearly 50,000 port workers across the East Cost and Gulf Coast, from Maine to Texas, walked out on the job over wages, technology, and other issues.

And while you might be thinking, "How does that affect me?" it has the potential to become one of the most disruptive strikes in decades, causing shortages and price spikes, CNN reports. Hundreds of products, including bananas, European beer, wine, and liquor will no longer flow freely from U.S. ports to your local store.

"First and foremost, we can expect delays to market. And those delays depend on really what the commodities are and priorities at the ports and how quickly things move," president of the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals Mark Baxa told AP News.

Source - https://www.delish.com/food-news/a62470740/port-strike-2024-prices-shortages/

Food Supply Chain risks and inflation:

The ever-evolving landscape of regulations, tariffs, and trade wars tops the list of concerns for most supply chain leaders. The summer 2024 Fortune/Deloitte CEO survey reported that 60% of CEOs have been worried about geopolitical instability over the last three seasons, with inflation ranking second (45%). And this pressure is filtering down to supply chain teams, who must rethink the global footprint to navigate it all.

Jim Kilpatrick, a partner from Deloitte, advises businesses to adopt digital approaches to visibility, collaboration, and risk management to rise to this moment.

“No organization wants unproductive assets or excess inventory tying up capital, which is why companies are doubling down on their digital approaches to resilience,” Kilpatrick said. “Initially, visibility into demand signals and potential risks is the goal. Then, they realize the importance of the flexibility to pivot when disruptions arise – whether reallocating resources or collaborating with suppliers, vendors, and partners to find new alternatives. Technologies like control towers and digital twins empower businesses to move beyond real-time dashboards and into predictive insights to act before a disruption occurs.”

Source - https://www.deloitte.com/ge/en/Industries/energy/case-studies/bhp-supply-illumination.html 德勤 or https://www.logility.com/blog/from-rising-costs-to-supply-chain-resilience-the-top-concerns-keeping-leaders-up-at-night/

Agriculture and Farming:

The research examined how farming costs have changed in line with inflation between December 2019 and May 2024, taking into account a ‘basket of goods’ based on typical costs incurred by farms. ?

Straw costs (bedding) more than doubled, while electricity, fertiliser, animal feed and motor fuels increased by 38-50%, AHDB said. ?

Other costs such as veterinary treatment, machinery, transport and labour costs were also included in the analysis.?

Source: https://www.farmersguide.co.uk/business/finance/farm-input-costs-almost-doubled-over-past-five-years/

Commodities:

Many different factors impact the overall food chain that and influence government. Canada is not the only country struggling with high costs of food. Addressing the cost of food starts with the following area:

1. Cost and availability of technology to drive up crop yields and food production - https://www.rothschildandco.com/en/newsroom/insights/2024/09/wm-sowing-the-seeds-for-regenerative-agriculture/ Rothschild & Co
2. Government collaboration with private sector including farmers on the right balance of policies that drive sustainable farming practices while ensuring food is affordable. https://phys.org/news/2024-10-farmer-sentiment-lowest-income-weaken.html
3. There is no indication that price gouging exists - https://www.scrippsnews.com/politics/truth-be-told/truth-be-told-fact-check-are-grocery-stores-engaged-in-price-gouging
4. Organic farming - https://vegetablegrowersnews.com/news/congress-pressed-to-fund-usda-organic-farm-bill-programs/
5. Innovation / farming - https://www.bayer.com/media/en-us/75-percent-of-farmers-are-open-to-innovation-to-cope-with-climate-change-global-research-reveals/
6. Technology - https://valorinternational.globo.com/agribusiness/news/2024/10/01/global-weather-disruptions-drive-up-agricultural-prices-on-us-stock-exchanges.ghtml
7. Regenerative farming - https://sustainabilitymag.com/articles/nescafe-prioritising-sustainability-and-coffee-farmers Nescafe Hub
8. Food production - https://www.investopedia.com/whole-foods-supplier-united-natural-foods-stock-soars-on-surprise-profit-8721143
9. Natural disasters - https://www.investopedia.com/whole-foods-supplier-united-natural-foods-stock-soars-on-surprise-profit-8721143
10. Biodiversity - https://www.fairtrade.net/news/fairtrade-is-strong-partner-in-protecting-forests-and-deforestation-prevention-according-to-new-study Fairtrade International

Paul is a former IBM Customer Success Manager that has deployed over 300 data and AI solutions across industry and geographies for the past 8 years. Paul is a Financial Planning, Analysis, and Reporting SME working with data including integration of macro and micro indicators as part of the integrated business planning and reporting cycle.

[email protected]

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Monthly Report – United States – September 2024 -? https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/monthly-report-united-states-september-2024-paul-young-1ktmc/

Monthly Report – Canada – September 2024 - https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/monthly-report-canada-september-2024-paul-young-atqnc/

Monthly Report – Australia – August 2024 - https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/monthly-report-australia-september-2024-paul-young-92soc/

Monthly Report – Ontario – September 2024 - https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/monthly-report-ontario-september-2024-paul-young-emxcc/

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