April 2015 Newsletter

As grocery prices continue to climb, relief is actually all around us.  Yes, beef prices are at an all time high and the difference in the dollar has everything from produce to dry goods climbing, all with no end in sight in the near future.  But before you work yourself in to a tizzy over all this, let’s pause to understand the situation fully and look at what our options are today.

First, while beef prices are high, pork and chicken have come down.  Both white meats can make a great alternative on the BBQ this summer without breaking the bank.  Another alternative is fish.  We have started to bring in fresh fish again.  Mostly Salmon and will cautiously expand as demand dictates.  If there is a particular type of fish you would purchase regularly, let us know and we will add it to our next order.

Next to consider is “where is my food coming from”.  Produce from California and fruit from Washington as well as produce from other countries are generally bought in American dollars so the drop in the Canadian dollar is driving up the price despite the lower freight costs due to the drop in oil.  That being said, we shouldn’t see prices rise on locally grown items.  Most should remain the same as their input costs probably wouldn’t have changed since last year and you will most likely end up with a better and fresher product than the stuff that has flown thousands of miles to get to your plate. This year, Roosters is proud to announce we will be adding “Foggin’s Garden” and “Fork in the Rowed” farms to our long list of local suppliers.  Both are non GMO and pesticide free and Fork in the Rowed is 2 years into their organic certification process. 

Third thing to consider is “Am I using all money saving options available to me?”  First, at Roosters we have a flyer like most other stores.  Quite often the specials featured on the front and back of our flyer are cheaper than the regular everyday price of a certain big box store that doesn’t have sales.  Countless times now over the last 5 years I have heard stories of people buying a huge pack of something at a membership big box store only to find the flyer price at Roosters was cheaper.  Take time to read our flyer and “then” shop both places.  Next, take advantage of “all” our cost savings options.  The Roosters phone app has a loyalty rewards punch card on it and after 10 visits you get your choice between several case lot items or the original Roosters large whole BBQ chicken.  The app is available for Android and iphone users and all items you can get have roughly a $10.00 value.  Next, use the Coupgon app which many times has simple coupons like “$1.00 off produce” or “$1.00 off meat” in addition to name brand coupons.  Use these in conjunction with regular ordinary coupons too.  Then remember, that all of these options can be used in conjunction with our standard “Spend $100 and get 10% off your bill” anytime except during case lot sales.  Oh, and by the time you are reading this, Roosters will have FREE WiFi as well as Shaw on the go WiFi.

Last thing to do is ease your mind by putting things into perspective.  According to David Suzuki’s Green Guide, 40 years ago, Canadians spent roughly 18% of their income on food.  Today we only spend roughly 9%, one of the lowest proportions in the world.  If you have a garden, you probably spend even less!  If you are wondering why the budget feels so tight if we are spending less on food than we used to, think of all the stuff we pay for on a monthly basis today that we didn’t 40 years ago.  Cell phones, internet, large cable or satellite TV packages, and of course we all service a huge amount more debt than people did 40 years ago.  If you have a chance, log on to the Roosters Facebook page and read an article I posted from the Calgary Herald entitled “Debunking sustainable food myths” or if you don’t have Facebook, contact me and I can email you a copy or print you off one at the store.  It’s a very interesting read and now more than ever it makes sense to buy as many goods locally produced as possible.  See you at Roosters!