WATCH: Meat prices expected to rise

VERNON – Any visit to the meat counter can already bring sticker shock, but now there’s word consumers could be paying even more in the year ahead.

A report from The Food Institute at the University of Guelph is predicting meat prices will increase three to five per cent.

The owner of Vernon’s Grillers Meats butcher shop says he’s already seeing price increases from his suppliers and getting creative.

But higher costs mean higher prices.

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“You still have bills to pay and have to make your margins so it ends up getting passed onto the consumer for sure,” says Griffin.

Pain for consumers may mean gains for ranchers, however. Valley Auction says they are seeing high cattle prices, in sharp contrast to recent years when the industry struggled.

“There is a shortage of beef out there. We are still killing the cattle faster than we are making cows,” says Don Raffan of Valley Auction.

It’s a welcome change for ranchers.

“Their cost of productions has gone up every year and they’ve not been paid for their efforts. Now they are getting paid and they darn sure deserve it,” says Raffan.

The only good news for consumers? It could have been worse.

“With decreased feed and fuel prices expected in 2015, meat prices will stabilize and will not soar as in years prior; and meat is expected to cost Canadians no more than an extra 5 per cent this year,” reads the The Food Institute report.

It also predicts prices for fish, seafood and vegetables will increase three to five per cent.