Tomato prices surge 21% in Canada, fueling restaurant cuts

Tomato prices have jumped 21 percent year-over-year in Canada, the steepest increase for any grocery item tracked by the Consumer Price Index, and the squeeze is hitting restaurants hard.

Groceries are selling tomatoes at an average $6.10 per kilogram — up roughly a dollar from last year. In the U.S., the spike is even sharper at 40 percent, turning the tomato into an unexpected symbol of affordability pressure.

A perfect storm of factors is driving costs: freezing in Florida and rain in Mexico, where Canada sources most winter and spring tomatoes, reduced yields significantly. Meanwhile, U.S. tariffs on Mexican tomatoes, combined with broader trade policy and geopolitical issues including the Iran conflict, have compounded supply strain.

Restaurants across Canada are responding. A St. John's eatery announced it would stop serving tomatoes "until prices come back down to being somewhat reasonable," noting that 10 pounds now cost $68 versus $30 a year ago. Another business owner in Victoria posted in frustration: "Are we supposed to survive this?"

For consumers posting on social media, the sticker shock is real — some reporting prices as high as $5 for a single tomato and pledging to grow their own instead.

Dalhousie University's Sylvain Charlebois called it a perfect storm of trade policy, extreme weather, and Middle East conflict. For now, diners may see tomatoes quietly disappear from summer menus.