Shelflation: a new challenge for shoppers
Food going bad sooner requires some vigilance
First there was shrinkflation, getting less of a product for the same price. Now, Canadians appear to be contending with increased “shelflation” at the grocery store.
A new name for a common occurrence, shelflation happens whenever supply chain disruptions shorten a product's shelf life. Anything from an extreme weather event to mechanical failure, labour shortage or geopolitical issue could result in lessthan-fresh food landing on store shelves.
Dr. Sylvain Charlebois, director of the Agri-food Analytics Lab (AAL) at Dalhousie University, recently coined the term in response to mounting concerns he'd heard from consumers about products going off sooner than expected.
The AAL surveyed Canadians on dairy in fall 2021, after noticing complaints of milk souring prior to best-before dates. As more anecdotal grievances poured in about a range of perishable products, they decided to investigate further.
A new AAL report found that Canadians may have thrown away nearly $550 million worth of food in the last six months due to shelflation.
Sixty-three per cent of the 1,501 Canadians surveyed in February 2022 had thrown out food earlier than expected at least once. Though some shelflation is normal — “once in a while you will buy something that is already spoiled, or will go sour prematurely, or won't stay fresh as long” — the AAL wasn't expecting as high a number, says Charlebois.
The Atlantic region had the highest instances of shelflation, with 70 per cent of respondents saying they had thrown away food prematurely in the past half year; Saskatchewan the lowest at 42 per cent.
“(Shelflation) is absolutely a problem. And when you think about the Atlantic, when you think about the Prairies, the North as well, perishability is a costly thing,” he adds.
“So, if the shelf life of products is compromised and shortened, it will make some markets more difficult to service and it does contribute to everyone's food bill.”
Produce was the hardest hit category (45 per cent), followed by dairy (31 per cent), bakery products (27 per cent) and meat (17 per cent).
Produce is especially vulnerable to shelflation, says Charlebois, because it's delivered to retailers on such a tight schedule. This “justin-time” model means you could make a salad in Toronto using lettuce that was harvested in California just a few days before.
“A lot of things can happen from that field out in California to our plates in Canada,” he adds.
“The work that is being done to offer a good product to Canadians needs to be appreciated. But something may go wrong, and something will go wrong at times.”
Ted Onyszczak, produce buyer for Toronto grocery store The Sweet Potato, told Canadian Grocer that at least two shipments per week is ideal for ensuring freshness of boxed salads. His California supplier recently cut the number of shipments to one a week due to transportation issues.
Salads usually arrive with 10 days of shelf life; with only one shipment, they're close to their best-before dates by the end of the week. Nearing-expiry salads don't sell, said Onyszczak: “People want to buy them to keep them in the fridge for a week.”
(Loblaws, Sobeys and the Canadian Federation of Independent Grocers didn't respond to requests for comment on shelflation.)
Canada had a food waste problem before reports of increased shelflation. Unlike boxed salads, many fresh fruits and vegetables don't come with best-before dates. By masking how long food has to last, shelflation only exacerbates the issue, says AAL research program coordinator Janet Music.
The report estimates that Canadians may have thrown away between $305 and $545 million worth of food prematurely over the past six months.
According to Canada's Food Price Report 2022, food prices could increase by
IT WILL MAKE SOME MARKETS MORE DIFFICULT TO SERVICE.
five to seven per cent, which amounts to an extra $80 a month for a family of four.
“With food price inflation increasing steadily as we go, (shelflation) is just one more thing that as a consumer, we have to watch out for,” says Music.
Knowledge of produce could be compounding the issue of shelflation-induced food waste, she adds.
The shelf life of a plantain, depending on your knowledge of the fruit, is less obvious than looking at the best-before date on a tub of yogurt and deciding whether to put it in your shopping basket.
When a bunch of celery or head of broccoli wilts — prematurely or not — how many people know they can firm it up by trimming the end and placing it in a glass of water in the fridge?
“I think this research shows that we need more education around produce.”
Unlike shrinkflation, which consumers can't do much to avoid, shopping more often and talking to your grocer about any freshness issues could help mitigate shelflation, he adds.
“Sharing these problems, I think, is key. A lot of people have talked about supply chain problems without really understanding what it means to consumers. Well, shelflation is an outcome of that.”