Higher food prices coming?

Consumers may have to pay even more than they are already paying for fresh produce as the agricultural fallout from Hurricane Maria deepens.
The Category 5 storm destroyed the agricultural sector in Dominica, Antigua and Barbuda’s chief supplier of fruits and vegetables. Consumers are already paying increases at the markets and supermarkets.
“Any impacts of the hurricane we will likely see it in prices charged in October and November and it all depends on when importers were to import these fruits and vegetables, said Jerry Aska, a research officer with the Statistics Division.
According to Aska, the price increases being seen now may be as a result of freight charges suppliers incurred in sourcing the foods from different producers further away. However, he added that it was still to be determined if that was the case.
The Statistical Division publishes the monthly Consumer Price Index (CPI) which tracks year-on-year and month-to-month price changes.
The last report released was for August which stated that consumer prices declined 0.2 percent after posting 0.1 percent the previous month. Among the nine major grocery store food group indices, there were five decreases and four increases.
(More in today’s Daily Observer)