The Financial Post reports in its Saturday edition that grocery prices climbed 4 per cent in September compared with a year earlier, according to the latest consumer price index from Statistics Canada. The Post's guest columnist Massimo Manini-Paquette writes that the increase shows that food inflation is once again climbing after a period of slower growth. Canadians do not need statistics to tell them their grocery bills have gone up. The cost of food began rising sharply during the COVID-19 pandemic and continues to take a significant bite out of household budgets. Over the past year, drought-hit coffee has had the sharpest increases. Coffee prices were up by 28.6 per cent last month. Canadians are already feeling the effect of the increase. Most notably, Tim Hortons raised its coffee prices earlier this month by 1.5 per cent per cup. The price hikes suggest that global supply pressures are now trickling down to everyday consumers, making the morning cup of coffee noticeably more expensive and adding further strain to household budgets already challenged by the high cost of food nationwide. The price of chicken and pork also climbed last month, by 1.5 per cent and 5.5 per cent, respectively.