How we’re addressing rising food and operational costs due to inflation

If you’ve stepped into a grocery store any time in the last six months or so, you’re well aware that the cost of food has skyrocketed. Even purchasing a small amount of groceries can be expensive these days, and the pinch is impossible for most families to ignore. These higher prices are due to a number of factors including the increasing cost of everything from plastic to gasoline. It’s also impacted the cost of cattle feed and other essentials on the farm.

Our family and retail team have been closely monitoring inflation here in Ontario and across Canada, and we’ve had numerous discussions about how to manage these rising costs. Our hope was that we could wait out this tumultuous economic time without raising prices here at VG Meats. We hoped, perhaps idealistically, that things might level out and made efforts to manage the impact of inflation in the meantime.

Unfortunately, it has become clear that our operating costs aren’t going to level out anytime soon. The current economic situation is not going to go away overnight and we’ve had to make some hard decisions.

Here’s what we won’t do: eliminate jobs to save money or cut corners on quality, whether that’s on the farm, in our retail stores or anywhere in between.

Here’s what we are going to do: implement a minor price increase across some product categories in order to address inflation with as little impact to our team and community as possible. We’ll also improve our productivity by using holistic management to find synergistic and symbiotic relationships within the complex living systems we manage.

One other thing we’re doing is changing how we label certain products so customers find it easier to assess the cost per item of what they’re buying. We’re offering portion cut, fixed price steaks to help you budget each meal, and innovative options like our delicious pork chops that offer protein at a lower price point. You’ll also see changes in the format of our sausage packaging so you can buy them with great bulk discounts.

Making hard decisions for best possible outcomes

VG Meats has long been dedicated to family, community, quality and regenerative agriculture. As a family and a business, we will never change these values. This means that ultimately, our decisions are made in order to preserve what matters to us: sustainability that supports future generations, ethical food production, caring for our environment, and ultimately, the quality of what we’re putting on your plate.

We understand that no one likes price increase (and honestly, we do our best to avoid them) but at the end of the day, this is what will create the least impact on consumers and the communities we work in.

Consider recommendations from our team

These minor price increases should not dramatically impact your shopping experience at VG Meats, but we wanted to be up front about them. We also understand that even before these price changes, the cost of food was challenging to some families. Knowing this, we ask that you come to us when you need a recommendation for better value on our high quality products. We may be able to suggest substitutions for your favourite Ontario beef, chicken, lamb and pork products (for example, if the price of ribeye feels too steep at the moment, try a delicious Denver steak instead). We can also suggest a freezer bundle that meets your needs or point you towards our bulk buys, which typically costs less per pound.

Thank you

We are grateful to all of our customers for their support and want to thank you for reading this today.

We will always strive to do what’s right for the customer and the community, which is a much bigger picture than the price of a single steak.

Thank you for understanding that we simply cannot reduce our standard of quality, turn our backs on our commitment to regenerative outcomes or cut corners on the farm—it just wouldn’t be right, and it’s not how things are done at VG Meats. Thanks again for your support and please reach out to us if you have any questions or feedback. We’re always here to listen and respond to your inquiries.