We paid how much for that? Rounding up the worst grocery prices in 2023

Canadians paid a lot of money for groceries in 2023, and while some may not have noticed that prices crept up, others took their sticker shock to the online masses for emotional support.

Statistics Canada called housing and food cost changes “the largest contributors to the year-over-year increase” in the Consumer Price Index, and that meant many of us skipped buying grapes or steak in 2023.

We rounded up some of the most wild and crazy grocery costs this year, and it might have you hoping that 2024 is a brighter and cheaper year ahead. Or, you might be looking for new and innovative ways to cook chickpeas.

Alberta beef

With many residents in this province sporting “I love Alberta beef” on their pickup trucks, it was a surprise to some shoppers to find that their love had grown cold on account of the prices.

In a post to X, Warren Kinsella, a Canadian lawyer and political commentator, uploaded a photo of prime rib grilling steaks priced at a whopping $91.72, claiming to be at an Alberta Costco location.

It wasn’t only in the Prairies that people were shocked about steak prices. One Reddit user in BC shared a picture of a pack of boneless rib grilling steaks being sold for $45.99 per kilogram in the summer, getting a lot of people fired up over the price.

Someone in Ontario wrote a simple “for ffs” over the $108 tenderloin price at Real Canadian Superstore, which also drew a lot of responses from fellow meat lovers.

$108/kg tenderloin, ffs
byu/Hafezberg inontario

Nearly $10 cauliflower

@freshdailyvancouver One Vancouver-based shopper is speaking out about staggering grocery prices after finding a single head of cauliflower cost $9 💸😱 #vancouver #vancouverbc #groceryshopping #inflation #canada #tiktokcanada #greenscreenvideo ♬ News / News / Notices / Announcements(1228397) – Tunagamo

Sinead Vesey saw that heads of cauliflower were going for $3.99 per pound at her local IGA in Vancouver in the fall. The cauliflower she weighed was 2.28 lb, making it $9.10 to buy.

“It does add stress to try and think about what can I actually kind of afford to eat,” she told Daily Hive about her surprise, saying that she also heard about someone buying $12 squash.

With the continual food inflation, Vesey is “eating less” and turning to buying things on offer or travelling to multiple shops to try and find affordable prices.

Halloween candy

Our usual sugar cravings kicked in around October, but so did the gut punch to our wallets. Prices were so bad that we went back in time to look at the prices a few years ago, and then shopped the stores in BC to compare prices. To no one’s surprise, the costs went up.

The beloved Nestle 100 pack, which includes Aero, Kit Kat, Smarties, and Coffee Crisp, was about $14 at London Drugs in 2021, but we spotted it for $24.99 in 2023. With the sale, you could get it for $18, still four bucks more than the previous Halloween. We tried Walmart, Shoppers, and even the Independent Grocer and found costs were up across the board.

Dr. Sylvain Charlebois, a professor from Dalhousie University, said the price hike is due to a few factors including a cocoa and sugar shortage and inflation.

Dairy

Milk, cream, yogurt, cheese, and butter all increased in price in 2023, thanks to an allowable bump in the farm gate milk prices across Canada as of February.

One social media user said the high prices would be forcing many to steal, or to buy less healthy options instead to save money.

“Also, tell me why every one of these items individually is more expensive than ice cream,” she added, showing the price of a pint of chocolate Häagen-Dazs ice cream,” TikTok user @sydmuddy shared on the app.

@sydmuddy If fulltime work isnt enough to pay for the basics, whats the point? #canada #canadianeconomy #groceryexpenses #expensivegroceries #costoflivingcrisis ♬ original sound – SydMuddy

“$4.99 for ice cream, which is unhealthy, and you shouldn’t be promoting people to buy, but it’s [cheaper] than all of these items individually,” they shared.

Poultry

Echoing the sentiments over how desperate people have gotten, another social media user lamented that the price of poultry was going to leave many no other options than to steal.

Nearly $40 for 5 chicken breasts? If you see someone stealing food from the grocery store…no you didn’t. No one should have to go hungry because of greed. #Loblaws https://t.co/PZQIk6lXYZ

— Brett Hunt (@brettaidenhunt) January 4, 2023

However, Loblaws was quick to respond, sharing a video shot in one of its stores showing packs of more reasonably priced chicken breasts with prices ranging from $13 to $16.

“So many chickens and #NoFowlPlay,” reads the caption. “Between inflation, supply chain issues, and an avian influenza, there are many reasons the cost of chicken has risen,” the company shared.

No Name items

It was a category that we had thought would withstand the other hikes, but alas, it was not to be. Reports of items increasing in the no-name brand sections, as well as in dollar stores, had many taking to social media to condemn the hikes for the otherwise affordable favourites. Including chips, which one Reddit user suggested had increased by 50% in less than a year.

I’m old enough to remember when these chips only cost 99c, a year ago.
byu/Ourkidof91 intoronto

“I just stopped buying chips,” one person added. “I miss them and can absolutely afford them but can’t justify paying that much.”

What items are you no longer buying in 2024? Let us know in the comments.

With files from Allison Stephen, Isabelle Docto, Beth Rochester, Becky Robertson, and Amir Ali