Gary Sands, senior vice president of the Canadian Federation of Independent Grocers, told Grocery Business magazine, “Our supply chain is very interconnected and interdependent. Higher input costs, such as fuel, mean producers and processors will, in turn, be passing them on to grocers. With overall margins of two per cent, independent grocers will have to pass those extra costs on to consumers. So whether consumers are filling up their cars at the gas pump or buying groceries, no one will be exempt.”