Groceries in Inuvik

Arctic Foods

April 22nd, 2012

Sunrise: 6:26 am. Sunset: 11:21 pm.

Temps: -10'C - 0'C.

I have to admit, I was a little nervous about the food situation when I prepared to move to Inuvik. I wondered, could I find decent vegetables? Would the prices for fruit be through the roof? Would I find the variety of foods I liked to eat? However, after being here for over a month, I am happy to say: "Things aren't that bad, actually!"

There are 3 grocery stores in Inuvik, as well as the local "Fruitman" who travels to Vancouver and back every 3 weeks or so to bring back fresh fruit, veggies, dairy and other goodies. The result is that you can find a good variety of items in town, and prices aren't always as bad as you might expect for Canada's northernmost road-access town.

Bananas: $5.39 per kilo

While I suspect that my grocery bill is on average 25% to 50% more than it would be in Terrace, I have noticed a few tricky things. First, the prices vary widely between stores - as an example, I noticed that a 6-pack of Mott's fruit cups cost $6.99 in one store, $3.99 in another, and $4.59 in the third. However, no store appears cheaper than the others overall, and I think the locals know which stores have the better prices on specific items, so if you put in the effort, you could save quite a bit of money.



Fruit tray with dip: $9.13



Another tricky thing is that price labelling is notoriously awful. At times, things are mislabelled or there are no price tags to be found at all! However, I have heard more than transplanted southerner say that they don't even bother to look at prices anymore - "if you want it, you buy it."

I have noticed some prices that are comparable to those in Terrace, such as for Alpen muesli, eggs, frozen berries, pasta, some condiments. However, for the foods I normally eat, I find the prices on dairy tough to swallow. A 4L jug of milk runs you about $9.00-$10.00, a container of yogurt is likely to be about $6.00, and cheese is around $15 for 750 g. These prices will soon get much higher, when the "road is out" for about a month in May. Other things are absolutely ridiculous even now, like the beverages pictured below:

(Over $7.00 for 1.36L of SunRype fruit juice, and $9.65 for a litre of Rice Dream)

 

In a few months, I should be able to report on my average monthly food bill, but with care and planning, I hope it won't be too bad.  I say that now though, as a newbie in town, who is not yet used to the food prices and is not yet feeling deprived of anything. I wonder if I too will eventually stop looking at food prices and just buy whatever? (Somehow with my thrifty phenotype, I doubt it!)