Group boycott of Loblaw over rising food prices

Fed up with ever-increasing food prices, a movement has emerged to fight back in the form of boycotts.

The group has zeroed in on one target — Loblaws — a Winnipeg-based company that has Superstore and No Frills here, as well as Shoppers Drug Mart.

Organizers say the plan is to boycott Loblaws-owned stores for the entire month of May. They are asking for a 15 percent price reduction.

Loblaw Chairman Galen Weston called the boycott “misguided criticism” and said his company cannot be blamed alone for rising costs because inflation is a global problem.

“The real challenge for me has always been the supply chain with suppliers. That's really the problem,” said Sylvain Charlebois, director of Dalhousie University's Agri-Food Analytics Laboratory.

Charlebois explained that retailers must negotiate prices with grocery chains like Loblaw to get their products on the shelves.

If these fees go up, so will the price of food.

“Is Loblaw part of the problem? Sure, but the boycott is targeting the wrong problem,” Charlebois said.

Charlebois said the vendor payout is partly due to low competition in the Canadian grocery sector.

He believes that if consumers want to make a difference, they should boycott all big box stores and shop at independent grocers whenever possible.

Ed Cantor of Cantor's Quality Eats and Foodries, an independent company, doesn't know if he'll benefit from the boycott.

According to him, they always try to give customers a good deal.

“At the end of the day, you're trying to give the best customer experience and value to the customer. Just try,” he said.

Food prices are still rising, but not as fast as before.

According to Statistics Canada, food inflation increased by 1.9 percent in March compared to last year.

In late 2022 and early 2023, food inflation reached 11.4 percent.