Maple Leaf Foods to increase retail prices amid high meat costs

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Consumers might notice price increases for Maple Leaf meat products at grocery stores in the new year as the company faces rising raw materials costs.

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“Beef inputs are at all-time highs. Turkey, in real time, is being impacted by the avian influenza implications in the North American markets,” chief executive Curtis Frank told analysts during an earnings call on Wednesday.

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“It’s really the combination of those inflationary effects that impacted the third quarter,” he said.

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While the company reported strong third-quarter results, the higher cost of raw materials dented its earnings on a quarter-over-quarter basis.

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The “remedy” is to pass some of those high costs onto their retail customers, Frank said.

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However, the company said its hands are tied until after the holiday season ends.

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“The (grocery) retailers implement what’s essentially a blackout policy to protect and preserve the holiday season, so you won’t see price changes for all consumer packaged goods companies,” Frank said.

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That window reopens on Feb. 1.

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However, Frank said it’s hard to predict the “consumer response to new pricing in the market and the volume impacts that come with that,” as the hunt for value and deals continues to be a key theme among shoppers.

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Frank said on one hand, consumers are cautious with their spending amid the high cost of living and economic uncertainty, but on the other hand, the current trend of protein demand has helped keep sales momentum going.

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Maple Leaf Foods Inc. reported a third-quarter profit of $43.1 million, up from $17.7 million in the same quarter last year as its sales rose eight per cent.

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The profit amounted to 35 cents per share for the quarter ended Sept. 30, up from 14 cents per share a year earlier, the company said in a release on Wednesday.

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Total company sales amounted to $1.36 billion, up from $1.26 billion in the same quarter last year.

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Maple Leaf said its prepared food sales rose 4.4 per cent, while poultry sales gained 15.7 per cent. The company’s pork business saw sales rise 10.4 per cent.

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On an adjusted basis, Maple Leaf says it earned 49 cents per share in its most recent quarter, up from an adjusted profit of 18 cents per share a year earlier.

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Maple Leaf completed the spinoff of its pork business, Canada Packers Inc. last month. The new company reported its first earnings on Wednesday.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 5, 2025.

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Companies in this story: (TSX: MFI)

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