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Why Montreal Brunch Is Now Going To Cost You More Money
Cover photo cred - Claire Danby
Brunch is pretty much the only meal eaten on the weekends, and it's a midday eating ritual the entire city partakes in. Montreal loves brunch, and for good reason, because brunch is amazing.
There's only one problem: why the hell is brunch so expensive?
You can blame mother nature. 2014 has seen some unfortunate changes in brunch-food production, and here's the breakdown so you don't feel ripped off whenever you're eating a fried chicken and waffles.
Coffee
Starbucks isn't the only place charging a lot for coffee. Heavy rains in Brazil (which grows 1/3 of the world's coffee) has destroyed fields of Arabica beans, the most popular and widespread type of coffee bean. Prices for Arabica beans are up 60%, so don't be surprised when your brunch platter no longer includes a free coffee.
Bacon
Bacon makes everything better, but a baby pig-killing virus has been tearing through North America and limiting the supply of hogs and happiness. The disease took many a piglet in the U.S. (bacon prices went up 11%) and has just arrived in Canada, likely reducing herd sizes in the next few months. Humans aren't effected, but being forced to pay more for bacon is an evil disease in itself.
Orange Juice
Brazil and Florida, the world's biggest orange growers, have both had harsh seasons. Floods in Brazil reduced orange crops, and an invasive bug in Florida has diseased a big chunk of the state's orange trees. Florida's orange harvest is predicted to be 15% smaller than usual, meaning less OJ to go around, which will turn into higher prices. Time to switch to apple juice.
Cereal
Nothing out of nature muff'd up the wheat, oat, and other breakfast-cereal grain crops, yet prices are still rising. Instead, transportation is the issue, as the never-ending winter has made it difficult to get cereal crops out of the farm and into your bowl. Oats prices are up 18%, corn (for Corn Flakes) increased 5.5%, and wheat went up 14% in certain areas of North America. As if cereal wasn't already overpriced.
