Customers enter enter a Loblaws store in Toronto’s east end on May 1. A quick-growing month-long boycott movement has begun against the grocery giant for the month of May, as shoppers express frustrations with high food prices.Sammy Kogan/The Globe and Mail
A boycott targeting Loblaw is gaining momentum, with what could be thousands of Canadian shoppers taking their money for groceries elsewhere this month.
What led to the Loblaw boycott?
Calls for the Loblaw boycott emerged after a Reddit group created to give people a place to complain about Loblaw and other grocers gained thousands of followers.
The page, r/loblawsisoutofcontrol, has grown to more than 63,000 members since being started in October, 2023.
While there’s no way of knowing how many will participate in the boycott, the page is full of posts from people who say they plan to, or have already started.
An unaffiliated online petition calling for an investigation into Loblaw Co. for pandemic profiteering and greedflation has garnered more than 100,000 signatures since its creation in early February. Its creator, Haruun Ali of Edmonton encouraged signers to participate in the boycott. Joe Badali, a commenter on the petition said “The exorbitant profit being made by Weston at the expense of struggling Canadians is outrageous.”
What are the boycott’s aims?
The primary aim is to have a financial impact on Loblaw, the biggest of the Canadian grocers, said Emily Johnson, a mental health and addictions worker in Milton, Ont., and one of the boycott’s organizers. “We don’t want to struggle any more.”
She also hopes the boycott educates people and gets the attention of government.
The demands laid out on the subreddit are:
- Immediate 15-per-cent price reduction
- Signing the grocery code of conduct (which is in the last stages in development and aims to enhance “transparency, predictability and fair dealing” to make Canada’s food chain more resilient.)
- No further retailer-led price increases for 2024
- Increased cost transparency, and clearly identifying items that are subject to “shrinkflation”
- A commitment to affordable pricing – price caps on essential goods
- A commitment to end price gouging, with prices quickly reflective of current economic conditions (ie: when inflation and food inflation cools, prices should cool to go with that)
Further demands for elected officials include:
- Make a commitment to increasing choice and healthy competition within the grocery industry
- Implement price caps across the Big 5 grocers
- Legislate Loblaw and Walmart to sign the grocer’s code of conduct
- Recognize affordable food as a basic human right, and take steps to protect said right
If we’re angry about high prices, why do we let the investment industry get off easy?
Which stores are included in the boycott?
A nonexhaustive list of stores and brands being included by some in the boycott:
- President’s Choice
- No Name
- PC Express
- Joe Fresh
- Loblaws
- Zehrs
- T&T
- Atlantic Superstore
- Wholesale Club
- PC Financial
- Pharmaprix
- Independent
- Maxi
- Shoppers Drug Mart
- Real Canadian Superstore
- Fortinos
- Valu-mart
- No Frills
- Quo Beauty
- Specialty Health Network by Shoppers
- PC Optimum
- Extra Foods
- Theodore & Pringle Optical
- Life Brand
- The Health Clinic by Shoppers
- Beauty Boutique by Shoppers
- Dominion
How has Loblaw responded to the planned boycott?
Loblaw Cos. Ltd. chief executive officer Per Bank says the company is paying attention to customers and sees them trying to mitigate inflation by seeking out sales, buying more private-label products and shopping at discount stores.
The grocer is responding to these shifting behaviours through new promotions and expanding its discount footprint, he said in an interview.
Loblaw has to keep looking for ways to provide value to keep people coming back, he said: “We don’t have a contract with our customers. They can choose to shop elsewhere tomorrow, if they don’t like the offer that we’re giving.”
Bank says he takes customer complaints personally, and if customers aren’t happy, “that’s something I want to fix.” He added that if one customer really dislikes Loblaw, “that’s one too many.”
Where are people planning to shop instead?
A website called altgrocery.ca has crowdsourced recommendations for alternative places to shop. The site is described as a place to help Canadians find “alternative grocery stores, pharmacies, and farmers’ markets across Canada, away from the Big 5 grocers.” The Big 5 grocers are Loblaw, Sobeys, Metro, Walmart and Costco.
What are Loblaw’s latest earnings?
On a conference call on May, 1 to discuss Loblaw’s first-quarter results, CEO Per Bank said customers were “voting with their feet,” as Loblaw reported a 9.8-per-cent increase in profit in the period from Jan. 1 to March 31, and raised its quarterly dividend paid to shareholders by 15 per cent.
With reports from The Canadian Press