Thank you, Mr. MacGregor.
The question is good.
There is a CPMA member company whose product line is called Earthcycle. They actually were with us in Europe promoting this Canadian product. It has a fibre base, and they have a range of other products that do meet the market and meet an environmental footprint.
On your comment, is it a one solution for all? No, and this is where we have to pick the right package for the right product for the right system, and there's the complexity of what that means.
On the pulp discussion, fibre packaging had a 14% increase at the end of 2023. That was on top of a 13% increase in the spring. A 27% increase in fibre packaging in Canada has a tremendous impact to the cost of product through the system. As Stefan has mentioned, it doesn't always get conveyed to the consumer in full because the grower and the supply chain absorb some of that, but we're at the end.
I want to talk about a couple of other components in a study. In Canada, as you know, I'm the chair of the Global Coalition of Fresh Produce. Labour costs are up 18% in Canada. This was in 2023. There was a 16% increase in plant-based material costs, a 21% increase in crop protection costs, a 24% increase in energy costs, and a 20% increase in the cost of machinery and equipment. These are generalized numbers across the fruit and vegetable industry, but those costs have to move somewhere. The growers cannot burden themselves with them anymore. We're at a tipping point.