Many food items are significantly more expensive at the grocery store today than they were a year ago in Canada. Leading the pack is rice, with a year-over-year increase of 48.9%, according to Statistics Canada. The spike is largely driven by export restrictions in key producing countries such as India and Thailand. Grapes come second with a 34.1% jump, likely the result of Canadian grocers pivoting away from U.S. suppliers this past winter—many stores carried grapes from South Africa, Peru, and Chile instead.
