Dairy price increase will drive down demand, Restaurants Canada says

Toronto – Restaurant owners are bracing for higher prices for cheese, yogurt, ice cream and butter with the news that industrial milk prices will rise by another 2.76 per cent on Sept. 1.

The increase was announced by the Canadian Dairy Commission and is the second price increase in seven months and comes on top of a 2.2 per cent increase that took effect Feb. 1. 

“Continually jacking up prices for restaurant owners and consumers is not a long-term solution when Canadians are already paying among the highest prices in the world for dairy products,” Restaurants Canada’s Vice President Federal/Quebec Pierre Cadieux said in a news release. “Cheese is being priced off the menu and another price increase is only going to further drive down demand.”

The restaurant industry buys $2.7 billion worth of dairy products a year, Restaurants Canada said in the release. The association is pushing for long-term solutions to the problems it says are created by Canada’s outdated supply management system. 

“We understand concerns around producer margins, but we need solutions that will increase volumes rather than always increasing prices,” Cadieux said.