The prices of some foods, including fruits, vegetables and nuts, are expected to jump in 2015 as the loonie continues its slide below 0.80 cents, Canadian researchers said Tuesday.

Professors from The Food Institute at the University of Guelph said Tuesday, that because of the loonie’s dramatic drop in value against the U.S. greenback over the last few weeks, they have adjusted the 2015 price increase forecast first issued in December.

They now predict that vegetable prices will increase between 5.5 per cent to 7.5 per cent in 2015. That’s up from their December prediction of a 3 to 5 per cent rise. According to their revised predictions, the prices of fruits and nuts will go up by 3 to 5 per cent, compared to their earlier 1 to 3 per cent forecast.

“Consumers may feel some changes at retail tellers starting this spring, unless food distributors change their pricing strategies before winter’s end,” the researchers write in their report.

They note that when they issued their forecast last December, the loonie was worth about 0.88 cents against the U.S. greenback.

However, they did not anticipate “the loonie’s sudden fall,” largely due to plummeting oil prices, they write. Some analysts predict it could fall further, to 0.75 cents US.

Canada imports “a significant portion” of its food supply, and could top $40 billion in 2015, the report said. The weaker loonie, then, will force prices up for many of these products.

In their initial report, they estimated that:

Meat prices will increase from 3 to 5 per cent.

Fish and seafood will increase from 3 to 5 per cent.

Dairy and eggs could decrease, or increase up to 1.0 per cent.

Grains will increase from 0 to 2 per cent.

The researchers do not provide revised estimates of price increases for these products.

Canadian consumers will, however, take a big hit on fruits, vegetables and nuts, which make up anywhere from 15 to 25 per cent of the average household food expenditure, the report says.

“Because they are edible imported products, and there is a lack of substitutes, they are especially vulnerable to currency fluctuations,” the report says.

Finally, the report says, while lower energy costs will likely offset food price increases somewhat, that won’t be enough to cancel them out entirely.

Therefore, the researchers predict that overall food prices will increase between 0.7 per cent to 3.0 per cent, up from their previous forecast of 0.3 per cent to 2.4 per cent.

Last fiscal year, food prices rose 2.8 per cent.