Are you seeing savings on groceries? StatCan says you should

According to Statistics Canada, the cost of buying food is coming down, but it doesn’t look like people in Metro Vancouver are saving much, if any, money.

1130 NewsRadio Vancouver hit the streets to find out and many tell us they’re still having to find ways to save.

“Kind of, shop around a little bit,” said one woman.

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Other strategies included looking for deals and trying to stock up, reading the weekly flyer, and using your freezer — get what you need when it’s on sale, make it, and meal prep.

This woman told us she does none of the above.

“We spend a lot. We entertain a lot. So, we’re probably up around $2,500 a month,” she explained. “Don’t have any real strategies [to save], because we like to entertain a lot, we like to have the good stuff, so we tend not to bargain hunt all that much.”

This man finds everything is still really expensive.

“I still notice staples just cost more than they did a couple of years ago, and that’s got to be putting a squeeze on a lot of people.”

Another man agreed. “Prices are going up quite a bit.”

And this man shared: “For the last two to three years, it’s been going up, so it’s really tough having prices go up so high.”

Others told us they’re spending anywhere from $300 to $400 every two weeks to feed a household of three people. Others revealed they try to buy in bulk as a way to cut corners on their grocery bill.

Last week, Statistics Canada said some food prices were dropping across Canada.

The federal agency published a list online showing that year-over-year, from July 2023 to July 2024, a number of items were a bit more affordable. They include cucumber, grapes, iceberg lettuce, margarine, crackers, canned tuna, shrimp, bacon, spinach, frozen berries, pasta, flour, roasted and ground coffee.

However, items like olive oil, avocados, onions, tea bags, baby formula, and deodorant were up.

Looking ahead to the fall and winter, one expert told 1130 News Radio that prices will continue to come down, including for some staples, like rice and bread.

-With files from Michelle Meiklejohn.