Rising input prices for manufacturers, trying to reduce consumer demand – SteinbachOnline.com | So Good News

Although food prices continue to rise, producers and local business owners are trying to reduce costs as much as possible.

Earl Funk from Earl’s Meat Market in Steinbach says he has seen less growth than many other businesses.

“Part of that is because we buy directly from the farmers,” Funk says. “So, this helps us. There is no middle man to raise the product and the cost is lower because it is on the car at the same time.”

He says that while beef and hog prices are at a record high, they seem to have stabilized for now.

“But the chickens seem to be on the rise,” Funk said. “There for a while, it seemed like every month or every month we received information that the price of chicken was going up. There, too, to keep chicken prices as low as possible, we buy whole chickens and then cut them ourselves to reduce the price increase that would affect our prices.”

Earl Funk at Earl’s Meat Market in Steinbach says he’s seen a lot of customers waiting to buy meat. (Photo: Facebook.com/EarlsMeatMarketSteinbach)

Michael Schriemer, president of Schriemers Family Farm in Otterburne, says that their additional costs are increasing and this is affecting consumers.

“Depending on how manufacturers produce, we’re seeing a significant increase in our production costs, whether that comes from cardboard, whether that comes as fertilizer,” says Schriemer. “In our work, we have not seen a single price that has not increased in the last six to eight months to a year. And some of these increases have been large, up to 200%.”

He says he doesn’t think this is sustainable.

“So, what we’ve tried to do, to be a responsible producer, is we’ve tried to capture as much money as possible,” says Schriemer. “Because we know that, like everyone else, people are on a budget. People can afford to buy a lot of things. And there’s not much profit for us, in the end, if people can’t afford to buy their food, period.”

Schriemer and Funk appreciate the support Manitobans are showing for local businesses, with people choosing to buy local, and for local stores to stock local products on their shelves.

Statistics show that grocery prices have risen the fastest in Canada in 40 years.

A number of factors are believed to be contributing to the rise, including bad weather, rising commodity prices, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and supply disruptions.

Gas prices continue to drop in Steinbach.

The regular price of petrol is now 163.9 cents per liter at most stations in the city.

–With files from Shannon Dueck and Glenda-Lee Vossler