Thank you for the invitation today.
My name is Kristina Farrell. I'm the CEO of Food and Beverage Canada, which is a national industry association representing more than 1,500 businesses across the country. Our members include Canada's six provincial and regional food and beverage manufacturing associations, including CTAQ, which is on the call with us today, as well as many leading companies.
Our sector is embedded in every province, sustains 300,000 jobs and stands as the largest consumer of agricultural products. It crafts the array of goods lining your grocery store shelves, ranging from bread and cold cuts to yogourt, canned vegetables, bacon and butter.
Recognizing the pivotal role we play in the food supply chain, we acknowledge that our food and beverage manufacturers are price takers. At the same time, while we're an essential service, we cannot, like any business, operate at a loss and endure.
I would like to quickly discuss the impact of inflationary pressures as well as supply chain disruptions on our industry and in turn on the price of food.
The impact of unprecedented inflationary pressures resulting in significant input costs and rapidly rising interest rates, particularly those affecting our small and medium-sized suppliers, poses a threat to the existence of the unique Canadian products that we have all come to love.
Take, for instance, companies with loans from BDC, where the small business loan rate recently surged by 38%. These financial strains, coupled with disrupted supply chains, have propelled our costs skyward.
Since the onset of the pandemic, our manufacturers have grappled with ingredient shortages, increased input costs, weather and climate events, border closures, blockades, geopolitical incidents and labour stoppages. The ripple effects of such events, as exemplified by the current strike at Rogers Sugar in B.C., resonate across our nation and impact bakeries, distillers, packaged goods producers and more.
Today marks day 68 of the strike, and the repercussions extend beyond mere shortages. Our companies face not just scarcity but elevated prices, given the few sugar producers we have. This underscores the interconnectivity of our food supply chain and the far-reaching implications of external events, as well as the lack of protection our manufacturers have from these.
Other factors that we cannot ignore include things like the escalator tax on beer, wine and spirits, which will contribute to higher prices for consumers. Additionally, there are initiatives such as the pollution prevention notice for primary food packaging; we have to recognize that any requirements to change our packaging will lead to additional investments and, in turn, additional costs for Canadians.
I would now like to turn my time over to Dimitri from CTAQ, who will discuss this further.