Global food prices are rising rapidly due to damaged supply chains, high shipping charges, COVID-19 pandemic-related disruption and the impact of climate change in the form of extreme heat waves, floods and droughts.
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization said in a recent report that food prices rose by 33% year-on-year in August, following a 31% rise in July.
Costlier food has disproportionally affected people in poorer developing countries and consumers on low incomes in wealthy nations, forcing them to cut down on some foods or reduce consumption.
Price rises this year have been steep and reported around the world.
In Canada, for example, prices of round steak rose by 6% from March to July and prime rib roast prices have grown by about 15%, according to Statistics Canada.
Sylvain Charlebois, director of the Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University in Canada, said food prices could rise by 5% on average this year.
In Europe, food producers have seen prices rise by more than 20 percent. François-Xavier Roger, chief financial officer at Swiss food giant Nestle, said during the Barclays Global Consumer Staples Conference last month, "The food sector is witnessing its highest level of inflationary pressure since 2011."
China may be the only major economy spared the worst impacts of the price rises, due to government purchases to shore up supplies, along with relatively subdued inflation.
The main reason for the price hikes appears to be supply shortages caused by a combination of natural disasters, drought and shipping issues.
