Food inflation continues to rise.

Meat prices will see the highest spike in the year ahead rising by an estimated 5-7 per cent over the 4-6 per cent increase seen in 2025.

Assistant professor of business analytics at Cape Breton University, Dr. Stacey Taylor, who contributed to Dalhousie University’s annual Food Price Report says the beef and poultry industries are seeing a number of pressures affecting availability and price.

“For beef, we’re seeing low cattle herds and drought, on the chicken and bird side, we’re seeing the avian flu, so that really does make things challenging, but it also means that it’s going to increase the cost to us.”

However, Taylor says, more beef products are coming in from outside Canada and the U.S.

She says Canada is importing more beef from Australia and Mexico, and while that will likely help to stabilize prices, it will take a year or more for the decrease to be seen.