Gagnon, who runs the St-Hyacinthe-based maker of vegetable purées called Epurée, says he’s now begun delivering his products in reusable tote bags as much as possible — instead of cardboard boxes — to cut down expenses. He’s also stopped making broccoli purées because the imported vegetable costs too much.
“It’s not easy,” Gagnon said Wednesday in a telephone interview. “It seems like everything is going up every month, including transportation. I need to focus on lower-cost vegetables now because otherwise production is going to cost too much.”
Gagnon isn’t alone in having to adapt to surging prices. Canada’s consumer price index rose 6.8 per cent in April from a year earlier, Statistics Canada said Wednesday — the fourth consecutive month in which inflation outpaced analyst expectations. Inflation in Quebec matched the national average.
