The Globe and Mail reports in its Friday edition that food suppliers in Canada are charging retailers extra fees to offset rising fuel costs, which will boost grocery prices. The Globe's triple bylined item led by Mariya Postelnyak reports that Maple Leaf Foods and Tree of Life are among the food suppliers and distributors that have already passed fuel-related charges on to wholesale distributors and grocery retailers. An unnamed industry source says Maple Leaf's new fee adds as much as $2,200 in additional costs per 20,000-kilogram tractor-trailer of food. In a March 31 letter seen by The Globe, Josh Kuehnbaum, Maple Leaf Foods senior vice-president of sales and customer business development, told partners that the company was introducing a "temporary fuel surcharge" of 11 cents a kilogram on its prepared meats and poultry shipments. Effective this Monday, the temporary surcharge is being implemented in response to rising transportation costs tied to global energy market disruptions, the letter said. "This is not a permanent price increase, but rather a temporary adjustment tied directly to fuel cost movements," Mr. Kuehnbaum's letter said. It added that the surcharge may "move up or down in line with fuel prices."