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It is a big deal for some of us when Statistics Canada publishes it biennial “Detailed food spending, Canada,” report, the result of year-long surveys of 15,000 Canadians regarding their purchases of 257 food and beverage items over the course of 12 months. The latest report came out in mid-October for the 2021 calendar year.

LINK https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/en/type/data

CANSIM Table: 11-10-0125-01 “Detailed food spending, Canada”

In 2021 we were in the second year of COVID lockdowns and despite food prices having risen 4.9 % since the pre-covid year of 2019, Canadian households spent the same $10,300 on food so our after-inflation spending fell by 5%. Due to lockdowns, our spending on restaurant meals fell 21 % to $2,200 while our spending in stores rose by 7 % to $8,100.

Curiously, Canadians spent roughly the same proportion of their food budget on all the major food categories (bakery, dairy, etc.) as they had in the pre-pandemic period. There were, however, significant shifts within categories.

In Baked Goods, (9 % of food purchased from stores) Canadians spent 31% more on unsweetened rolls and buns and 10 % less on bread, perhaps to replace the hamburgers and hot dogs unavailable at locked down restaurants.

In Cereal Grains and Cereal Products, (6 % of food purchased from stores) you can see the surge in home baking as purchases of flour rose 20 %. School closures and work-from-home options explain the 10 % rise in breakfast cereal purchases.

In the Fruit, Fruit Preparations and Nuts category (13 % of food purchased from stores), fresh fruit matched overall category growth but frozen fruit purchases rose by 39 %. Nuts and seeds purchases rose by 23 % led by the more affordable peanuts.

In the Vegetables and Vegetable Preparations category (12 % of food purchased from stores) purchases of fresh potatoes declined by 20 % while sales of frozen potato products rose 27 %, perhaps to replace the French fries unavailable at locked down restaurants. Purchases of frozen and dried vegetables rose 23 %.

In the Dairy products and Eggs category (14 % of food purchased from stores) purchases of fluid milk declined modestly (4%) despite more employees working from home. Eggs, a solid recession performer, saw purchases rise 23 %.

In the Meat category (19 % of food purchased from stores) pork, surprisingly, gained at the expense of chicken, despite both experiencing a price increase of 8 % over the two-year period.  Pork purchases rose 14 % while those of chicken fell 13 %. Sausages and deli meat outperformed but purchase of wieners fell 8 %.

One of the most surprising categories was Seafood (4 % of food purchased from stores) because purchases these expensive proteins rose 11 per cent. Declines in purchases of fresh and frozen fish were matched by gains for shellfish and canned tuna.

The catch-all category of “Non-alcoholic beverages and other Food products (24% of food purchased from stores) experienced remarkable growth with purchases up 18 %. The most significant gains were in the coffee category (up 22 %) as more people worked from home. Meal preparation items such as salad dressings (up 20 %) condiments, spices, and vinegars (up 14 %), sauces and gravies (up 21 %), cooking and salad oils (up 20 %) led the growth.  Canadians snacked at home throughout the pandemic with chocolate bar sales up 13 % and snack food purchases up 12 %.

Tomorrow, I’ll look at how compare how different income groups spend their food dollars.