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Iranian-imported ready-made meals at March\u00e9 Bazaar Westmount (Zachary Cheung, CityNews)<\/p>\nMontreal-based Iranian grocery store owner Reza Nikzad says he expects his shelves to soon empty out following a food export ban imposed by Iran on Tuesday, one of the latest episodes in the escalating war. <\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of stress and we don\u2019t know how this is going to end,\u201d the owner of March\u00e9 Bazaar in Westmount said.<\/p>\n
The specialty grocery store provides the essentials for anyone missing the taste of home, Nikzad said. Shelves are stocked with specialty Iranian rice, tea and canned goods. A nearby counter also serves fresh Iranian food and baked goods.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are some unique products which Iranian consumers like to have it all the time,\u201d he said. \u201cThe rice is a very special product for them.\u201d<\/p>\n
He says the shop draws not only members of Montreal\u2019s Iranian community, but also curious locals.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey come to our store to learn about the culture of the food,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
But with Iran halting food exports this week, Nikzad said the supply chain will \u201cfor sure\u201d be affected.<\/p>\n
He said he learned of the export ban through news reports and has already contacted his suppliers in Ontario. The short-term outlook isn\u2019t promising.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have whatever is on the shelf at the moment\u201d he said. \u201cIn fact, I was in touch with our local supplier in Ontario in the last two, three days. There is no availability in the short-term at the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n
Iranian-imported ready-made meals at March\u00e9 Bazaar Westmount (Zachary Cheung, CityNews)<\/p>\n
Nikzad said he is looking at other options, including sourcing products from other countries or turning to locally produced substitutes.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have to adapt to the alternative,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Beyond food exports, the conflict is also affecting global energy markets. Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday, a choke point through which roughly 20 per cent of the world\u2019s oil passes.<\/p>\n
While Canada does not import oil from Iran, economist Moshe Lander said global disruptions will still ripple here.<\/p>\n
\u201cMost energy has now become a global commodity, certainly oil and gas are,\u201d Lander said. \u201cSo when you have any disruption in global supply, then it is going to have an impact here at home.\u201d<\/p>\n
If countries that previously relied on Iranian oil begin seeking supply elsewhere, that pushes up global prices. Lander says Canadians will likely notice it first at the gas pump.<\/p>\n
Higher fuel costs can also drive up transportation expenses across a country as large as Canada \u2014 costs that often get passed along to consumers.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s no way that this is going to have a non-inflationary effect the longer that it lasts,\u201d Lander said.<\/p>\n
Nikzad said those pressures will likely show up here at home. While prices at his store haven\u2019t gone up yet, he said, a dragged-out war in the Middle East will \u201cdefinitely\u201d force him to do so.<\/p>\n
March\u00e9 Bazaar is a slice of home for regular shoppers like Bahar Mirzazadh, who said the store represents more than just groceries. <\/p>\n
After being cut off from her family in Iran due to internet shutdowns, Mirzazadh said gathering places like March\u00e9 Bazaar help during times of uncertainty. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s really good for us because we support each other,\u201d she said. \u201cWar, it doesn\u2019t have any good side for the normal people. It\u2019s just good for politics, not for us.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Montreal-based Iranian grocery store owner Reza Nikzad says he expects his shelves to soon empty out following a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":514658,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194292],"tags":[49,48,2338],"class_list":["post-514657","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-montreal","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-montreal"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/514657","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=514657"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/514657\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/514658"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=514657"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=514657"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=514657"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}