One of the most important pieces of research each year for Farm & Food Care Saskatchewan and Canadian Food Focus is the Public Trust report from the Canadian Center for Food Integrity. This report focuses on consumers’ perceptions of the food and agriculture industry and allows us to set priorities to ensure that we are creating the content that consumers find valuable. It also provides an annual benchmark to evaluate how views and perceptions change over time.
This year we see that there is a growing level of uncertainty about Canada’s food system among consumers. Although 45% of Canadians have a positive impression of the food system in our country, this is a 7% drop from 2023. When further asked about why there would be a negative view about the food system, most respondents indicated they felt there was a lack of honesty, especially as it relates to food pricing. With increased food inflation in the last few years, many consumers feel that parts of the food industry may be unfairly profiting from increased prices.
Consider an average family shopping for a basket of food in a typical week. Their wages have likely not increased substantially, but they still experience the sticker shock of how all food has increased in value. This is why cost of food is the number one overall life concern among Canadians. I’m the grocery getter about half the time in our family and I can see firsthand how my money doesn’t buy you what it used to! Higher food prices create a weekly level of unhappiness. Who do we blame? Often the grocery company for hiking up the rates, which results in government inquiries into the level of profit by major food retailers. Right behind the growing viewpoint of dishonesty in the food system is perceptions of corporate greed and/or price fixing.
The problem is there are numerous reasons why food is more expensive now. Before this new public trust survey was reported, Canadian Food Focus proactively produced a podcast and article to discuss food inflation. In the podcast, John Scott discusses various different factors that affect prices, along with the competition that exists within the grocery retail business. Have a listen to this thirty-minute podcast: https://canadianfoodfocus.org/podcasts/podcast-are-grocery-prices-going-to-continue-to-rise/.
As we look at our engagement initiatives into 2025, we ensure our messaging addresses consumer demands for honesty and transparency. We currently are engaging with more than three quarters of a million people each month, so we have an interested audience who is listening to our message. We look forward to understanding how these consumers change their view in the next round of surveying.
View a summary of the 2024 Public Trust Survey results from the Canadian Centre for Food Integrity: https://www.foodintegrity.ca/research/
