Sugary labour dispute in B.C. puts Sask. businesses in sticky situation
Empty shelves, concerned bakers, and scrambling grocers
Pastry shops, home bakers and store owners are caught in the crossfire of a bittersweet labour battle.
Workers at the Rogers Sugar refinery in B.C. have been on strike for more than 10 weeks after their employer demanded 12-hour shifts and 24/7 operations during contract negotiations.
Shoppers and sweet makers across Saskatchewan and the rest of Western Canada are struggling to find supplies. Supermarkets in Saskatoon have shortages and bakers in the city are running from store to store to find sugar.
Rakesh Halari, who runs an Indian store in Saskatoon, said he still had some stock left on Tuesday, but was out by the next day.
"[Now] it's completely gone. I don't know when it's going to be coming back," Halari said Wednesday.
He said he's seeing many customers grabbing whatever sugar they can find.
"They just want to get it because it's that time of the year that they really need it."
Halari said he is going to source sugar from Ontario and increase imports from India to make up for the shortage while the dispute continues, but will have to increase his prices as a result.
"I am going to see at least about 35 to 40 per cent increase in price," Halari said.
Halari said he learned about supply chain issues during COVID-19.
"We are supposed to stock lots of basics like sugar, rice, wheat, flour, all those are the basics. We need to have them to continue doing business."
Dessy Fadeyi, who runs a baking business out of her home, makes pastries, cakes, Nigerian delicacies, snacks, pies, donuts and more. The waves from the labour dispute have flowed from Vancouver's waterfront to Fadeyi's kitchen.
"This is my passion, has always been. I quit my job so I could go full-time into it and it's been a great experience," Fadeyi said. She has been baking for over 12 years now.
She said it's a scary situation for bakers right now.
"I was [at grocery store] the day before. There was no sugar in Superstore and [another] of the grocery stores that I always go to," she said.
"I went out again yesterday, I was able to get it [sugar] because there was a limit placed on it. So it was almost gone but I was happy to get at least one bag."
Fadeyi said she's not stockpiling because she understands that there are other bakers and people in the city who also need sugar.
"There's scarcity, yes, but then they're bringing in supply bit by bit. So it's good for everyone to buy some so it can spread around, and then you go back again."
Fadeyi is starting to get a lot of orders for Christmas. She said she usually asks customers to order early, but now she's concerned about meeting those demands.
Sylvain Charlebois, director of the Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University, said there was some sugar inventory at the start of the dispute, but now it's gone and demand is high.
"As a result of the strike itself, prices are going up. We've actually noticed that brown sugar is more expensive now by 15 per cent since mid-October. That's a lot. And white sugar is up almost 11 per cent," he said.
Charlebois said he's not expecting the strike to end anytime soon.
"Most people think that we eat too much sugar, so why would people care about a sugar plant?" he said. "I think this is probably going to last at least seven to eight months."
He said grocers will buy from suppliers elsewhere, like in the U.S. which will continue to drive up prices.
"It's going to be more difficult. The last thing that we would need to see is people stockpiling that. That actually makes things worse," Charlebois said.
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