Agriculture committee  I do not believe that what we're seeing take place in the marketplace has resulted in food producers purchasing less farm gate output. I don't have any data to support that. In fact, what's happened since the pandemic is that we've seen quite a bit more volume because people are at home, cooking more at home.

Agriculture committee  Certainly, and I'll try to bring it back to the small and medium-sized enterprise and, usually, the multi-generational families who are running them. Imagine you've done your best to produce a lot of goods according to a forecast provided to you by a retailer. You have a trade agreement in place that states how much you will deliver and when.

Agriculture committee  Certainly. Where we are relative to the major milestones that we need to achieve in the coming months is as follows. First is a broad-based industry consultation. The code will go out for consultation. It will be in the marketplace for up to 30 days. We'll be soliciting the feedback of all stakeholders to ensure that we haven't overlooked any major item that needs more consideration, and also get other feedback on the principle-based nature of the code.

Agriculture committee  Thank you. Yes, that's a very good point with respect to investment. In the last couple of years—maybe three years since the onset of the pandemic—the average small operator has had to invest unplanned capital into their operations to deal with everything COVID- related, from PPE to infrastructure changes, to health and safety measures, to education, to support for their employees.

Agriculture committee  Certainly. That's a very complex question. The ability to come back to that in a more meaningful and detailed way would be welcomed. We feel that the over-consolidation that's taken place in a number of sectors in the Canadian economy could be better managed by providing the Competition Bureau with more ability to investigate and have more transparency into the business dealings and consolidation that's taking place in the grocery sector specifically because we are here to talk about food inflation.

Agriculture committee  Thank you.

Agriculture committee  Thank you for that question. When I speak to my members, I hear very common and recurring themes around supply chain risk and the exorbitant increases they're facing in terms of warehouse spacing availability, price per square foot, and even the ability to transport their goods to market.

Agriculture committee  Thank you for that question. It's a very good question. I would refer to economies of scale. The majority of my members are small and medium-sized enterprises and they struggle with the time and investment it takes to apply for the government funding that is involved in a lot of these large plants and large-scale investments in Canada today.

Agriculture committee  Thank you for that question. My members are very supportive of the code of conduct. I think your question was around the blackout period, if I understood correctly. That is a normal part of the retail cycle during the holiday season. No prices are increased. It's very difficult for small and medium-sized enterprises to navigate that landscape if they need to raise their prices.

Agriculture committee  FPC members are reporting a multitude of impacts that are directly related to interest rate rises and interest rates in debt servicing. Access to capital has been restricted. It's very difficult when business owners are looking to invest in plant equipment, innovation or measures that enhance food safety and they have a trade-off between those investments and having to pay more for virtually every expense line in their business.

Agriculture committee  Certainly. The estimation of $2 billion overall as an impact to the industry for front-of-pack labelling alone is accurate. In the current competitive environment, we are looking at every possible input to our businesses rising dramatically. From front-of-pack labelling, whose timing is very difficult, especially after COVID, the supply chain disruption, climate events, labour....

Agriculture committee  Thank you, Chairman. Good afternoon, Chairman and distinguished members of the committee. Thank you for your invitation to appear on behalf of the Food Producers of Canada to discuss the important issue of food price inflation and its effects in Canada. I am Denise Allen, president and CEO of FPC.

Agriculture committee  There is no doubt that the Competition Bureau...and the act itself holds opportunity to provide it with more reach, or teeth, if you will, to investigate where there are concerns of over-concentration, certainly in sectors that have such far-reaching impact on Canadians' lives as our food system.

Agriculture committee  Some of them are overlapping between federal and provincial jurisdictions. Some of them are uncompetitive inputs, such as having to pay for or import inputs for further processing compared to other jurisdictions. We have worked with the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Ottawa to prepare a white paper to that effect.

Agriculture committee  In short, yes. A grocery code of conduct will allow us to have greater input on which fees and fines are imposed on us. We would have a mechanism to have fair and reasonable good-faith negotiations with retailers and, in doing so, keep more profit in those processing companies to reinvest in capital investments.