After months of trade war back-and-forth, the impact of tariffs is starting to make its way onto our dining room tables, according to experts working in the Canadian food and grocery industry.
Small grocers in particular have been paying more for the products that line their shelves, said Gary Sands, senior vice-president of the Canadian Federation of Independent Grocers. While a number of produce items from the U.S. aren’t tariffed, fresh produce that is taxed has seen the most immediate increase, Sands said, given that it is perishable and cycles through stores quickly.
And because many of Canada’s 6,900 independent grocers operate on slim profit margins of around two per cent — much smaller than the margins in many other sectors — those increases are being passed on to consumers, Sands added.
“When you’re on that kind of a margin, if you’re being handed increases by … the food manufacturers …