Do you feel like you’ve been robbed at the supermarket?
A bag of apples for $8, a basket of raspberries for $7, a cheese on sale that costs more today than it did 6 months ago?
Almost 80% of Canadians think big grocery chains are taking advantage of the pandemic to line their pockets.
None of this is proven, not yet. But the NDP believes it has reason to believe that the three Canadian giants Loblaw, Metro and Empire (Sobeys, IGA) are abusing their virtual monopoly.
The party is calling for an investigation by a parliamentary committee in the Bundestag, in which big bosses and experts would present their arguments.
In any case, the arguments for such an investigation are very convincing.
monster wins
The NDP’s calculations point to significantly higher revenues and profits than before the pandemic.
Loblaw posted net income of $900 million for the first two quarters of 2022, compared to $512 million in 2019.
Metro reported net revenue of $680 million for the first three quarters of 2022, compared to $547 million in 2019.
Same trend at Empire, whose net income jumped from $387 million in 2019 to $745 million in 2022.
Meanwhile, food inflation is skyrocketing.
It was 10.8% yoy in August, while overall inflation was 7.6%.
“In the early 1980s, food inflation was only felt for a few months. Today is 13 months in a row that[elle] faster than inflation in general and it will not abate,” says expert Sylvain Charlebois.
It seems that what goes up doesn’t necessarily come down, in food. Mr Charlebois wonders about the price of meat, which inexplicably remains prohibitive.
Are there secret agreements, cause for scandal? According to Mr Charlebois, probably not. What is clear, however, is that the giants haven’t done much to help the less fortunate to support themselves.
Anything for profit remains the golden rule.
Need we remind you that these big banners were involved in a bread cartel that lasted 15 years?
reprieve
In Europe, major grocery stores have decided to freeze prices on certain staple foods.
For example, in August, the Carrefour brand blocked the prices of 100 products until November.
There’s radio silence here from our major food chains. Our governments, on the other hand, seem to have only one reflex to combat the rise in the cost of living: to write checks, which in turn contribute to inflation.
The investigation the NDP is calling for is unlikely to help in the short term.
Unless the food oligopolies and their shareholders under scrutiny are embarrassed enough to give their customers some respite.
