Jan 22, 2016
Price of cauliflower triples in Canada

 

The price of cauliflower has tripled in Canada, due to problems at home and abroad.

Around this time last year, a head of cauliflower could be bought for $2.50 Canadian. Now you can find cauliflower in Canada for about $8 Canadian.

The steep increase in price is attributed to the current value of the Canadian dollar and low international supplies of vegetables from California, according to The New York Times.

Here’s more from the Times:

 As prices for commodities have dropped, the value of the Canadian dollar has fallen, a direct link to an economy that is dependent on oil and other resources. It makes imports, like fresh American vegetables during the dark Canadian winter, look especially costly. Two years ago, one Canadian dollar was worth 93 American cents. On Wednesday, it stood at 69 American cents.

The drought in California, where Canadians get most of their vegetables in the off-season, just compounds the sticker shock. With less bounty in the fields, farmers’ prices, in American dollars, are higher.

As a result, fresh vegetables feel more like a splurge for Canadian consumers.

“We’ve gone through this cycle before with the dollar,” said Jim McKeen, owner of McKeen Metro Glebe, a grocery store in downtown Ottawa. “But there were issues on prices anyways because of supply in addition to this whole fiasco with the Canadian dollar. It’s a perfect storm.” 




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