Grocery prices on the rise
CALGARY SUN
Mother Nature’s cold squeeze on California is pushing up prices of popular fruits and veggies on city store shelves.
Consumers fear the cost of favourites such as oranges and avocados could double — even triple — at area supermarkets by week’s end after four straight subfreezing nights ruined citrus groves and field crops down south.
The last two days have already seen grocers paying slightly higher wholesale prices, said MRT Family Foods produce manager Marvin McKie.
“We really won’t know the prices until the end of the week, until they assess the damage down in California for all the citrus that’s been affected,” said McKie from the independent food store at 815 36 St. N.E.
“But it’s eventually going to hit us because of how much crop damage there was.”
About three-quarters of the season’s oranges, lemons and tangerines — nearly $1 billion worth of fruit — were unpicked as California’s Central Valley was chilled by mercury falling lower than -5 C over the weekend.
Experts say the fruit is threatened whenever the temperature goes below -2 C.
As well, broccoli and avocados were affected by the freeze, as were strawberries to an extent, said Sobey’s spokesman Mike Lupien.
“We buy every day, so we have trucks on the road with supplies right now,” said Lupien of stocking the food chain with available fruit and vegetables for the time being.
Meanwhile, Sobey’s and other Canadian grocers are weighing options about bringing in the affected foods from overseas.
“If we can get it from other places, we won’t know what the price is going to be until we get it here,” Lupien said.
“We might be able to purchase them for lower prices, but you’re paying more for transportation.”
Ron Lemire of the Canadian Produce Marketing Association said the industry is being pro-active, including looking at bringing in fruits from Egypt, Turkey and — for the first time — China.
FYI...China has just be praying for such an occourance. They plan to flood the worlds markets with Apples. Yes apples. Apples that even their own people are not allowed to purchase because THESE are to be grown on clean soil and not on poluted soil which local farmers must use .
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