Food prices going up

TORONTO, Ont. - The grocery list of the near future may include more beans, wieners and chicken thighs.

Economists are warning by this time next year, Canadians will be paying 5 to 7 per cent more from groceries, "from your coffee store to your grocery store to your restaurant", as the costs creep up slowly over the next 12 months.

A family that spends about $400 a month on groceries will see that price rise by about $28, an increase of $340 a year.

"Where that extra $340 will come from is  perhaps eating out, perhaps going to the movies or buying clothes, or whatever the case may be. So higher food prices a little bit act like a tax," Michael Gregory, a senior economist at BMO told 680News.

"Bad weather, bad crops in many parts of the world makes global markets extremely tight for food," Gregory explained. "Then on top of that, you do have a world economy that is recovering."

On top of it all - the price of wheat has doubled over the past year, and sugar has gone up by about 40 per cent.

Even Tim Hortons says it will eventually have to hit up customers for more cash, as will baked goods maker George Weston and meat processor Maple Leaf Foods.

The Canadian Federation of Independent Grocers said they will put off price increases as long as they can, finding other ways to work around it.

"You'll see a reduction in the number of promotions, like the coupons and that kind of thing," the CFIG's John Scott told 680News.

It will take 9-12 months for the costs to trickle down into local grocery stores.