These are the food items that increased the most in price in October

Canadians have had to spend unprecedented amounts on groceries this year due to inflation, and for some products, October was no exception.

Data from Statistics Canada reveals the price changes of grocery store food products as a result of inflation last month.

The cost of groceries has gone up significantly since 2019, following the onset of COVID-19.

Factors such as supply chain disruptions, labour shortages, changes in consumer purchasing patterns, poor weather in some growing regions, tariffs, higher input costs and higher wages have all contributed to the growing grocery bills.

This past September, the yearly increase of in-store grocery prices hit a high of 11.4 per cent - the biggest jump since 1981. 

The following month, this number remained high at 11 per cent in October, and food items such as dairy products, eggs, and butter showed some of the biggest price hikes, according to Statistics Canada.

The product category with the highest month-over-month price increase in October? Margarine.

Prices for food purchased from stores decelerated in some categories, but remain elevated in October, 12-month per cent change.

Costs for products like margarine, pasta products, butter, dairy, and eggs all saw an increase in price from September to October.

While others – coffee and tea, fruits and vegetables, fish, and meat – went slightly down in price last month.

“We're seeing signs that things are starting to calm down now. And grocers are more in control of the situation, processors as well,” said Dr. Sylvain Charlebois, senior director of the Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University, on CTV News Channel.

Prices for food purchased from stores decelerated in some categories, but remain elevated in October.

“I think we should consider today's report as light at the end of the tunnel, indeed. We're still in this food inflation storm, don't get me wrong, and we're not out of the woods. But now we're seeing a situation that is much more in control,” says Charlebois.