Cost of living continues to be a top concern for many Canadians, and recent commentary seems determined to spook consumers about how the food they buy has supposedly been “shrunk” (mostly recently, Halloween candy). The implication is that keeping prices stable is somehow nefarious if it’s achieved through changing product sizes, no matter that these changes in weight or volume are clearly labeled.

As I’ve written extensively, persistent inflation is “spooky” enough. Sensational headlines and finger-pointing fail to recognize the complex reality of inflation (a global phenomenon, by the way). The shifting blame game also does nothing to meaningfully address inflation’s causes or identify real ways Canada could constructively mitigate inflation’s impacts.

Here are some realities that are far more productive to discuss than spooky stories.

Reality 1: Canadian consumers (like large majorities of their peers around the world) consistently rank price as a top priority in making food decisions. The Canadian Center for Food Integrity’s 2023 Public Trust Research report found that the cost of food is Canadians’ top concern, as it has been in each of the organization’s last five reports.

Reality 2: Years of an inflation superstorm mean everything costs more - to make and to buy. Food manufacturers face significant cost increases for ingredients, energy, labor, and more. Nevertheless, a recent Ubuy study found that despite these increased costs, Canada’s food inflation remains lower than many of our economic peers in the G7.

Canada’s food. health and consumer product companies work tirelessly to manage as best they can through these inflationary times and continue to deliver the products Canadians rely on. Unfortunately, some circumstances leave businesses with only two options - they can take the tough but understandable decision to raise prices, or they can try to keep prices stable by changing factors like product size or ingredients.

None of these decisions are taken lightly or without considerable difficulty. For example, since most products are not sold directly to consumers but rather to the large grocers who control 80% of Canadian grocery stores, grocers often simply refuse to accept increased prices from suppliers.

Another option for manufacturers, but one that takes considerable time, could be searching for lower-cost ingredients without impacting the taste and quality consumers demand. Finding new ingredient sources and tweaking recipes is no easy task, so these changes are rarely feasible in the short or medium term.

For these or many other reasons, some manufacturers may end up changing a product’s size in order to keep prices stable. In such cases, the product’s weight or volume remain clearly labeled, so consumers can decide whether to make a different product choice.

All of these choices involve trade-offs, and many of the underlying causes are outside anyone’s immediate control. On Halloween or any time, Canada’s farmers and food manufacturers don’t have a magic wand that can prevent extreme weather, stop the war in Ukraine, or resolve the many other disruptions that have stressed intricate supply chains.

What Canadian food manufacturers, retailers, and governments alike can and must do is address the constraints that have for too long held back the full potential of Canada’s grocery, manufacturing, and supply chains. Concrete actions must be taken to fill our labour gap, reduce overly burdensome regulation, and implement the Grocery Code of Conduct for Canada which will decrease friction and reduce costs associated with unfair practices in grocery retail.

In its June 2023 report on grocery affordability, the House of Commons Agriculture and Agri-Food Committee noted that “relationships in the food supply chain have a major influence on how prices are transmitted along the supply chain and ultimately to the consumer…” The report highlighted the need to increase transparency and ensure fairness throughout the food supply chain, as one way to help ease the complicated factors impacting Canadians’ grocery bills.

At FHCP, we agree. The sobering challenge of inflation calls for mutual respect and solutions, not scare tactics.

This op-ed was originally published on LinkedIn.