Solidarity in aisle 5

June 4, 2024 8:09 AM

If you want to pop into a no-shame-no-blame-if-you-can't-do-it, trounce the rich boycott with heart, enjoy this continuing saga. Background below the fold. The Loblaws boycott was set to take place in May, but continues, and rumour has it that it's had an impact. Alt.grocery is up and running with crowdsourced information. (Reminds me of Vaccine Hunters.) Executives are posting replies to social media complaints on LinkedIn. Some folks are creating posters in satiric support -??? - of Galen Weston grocery overlord. Support for the boycott crosses political lines. And oh yes, there's swag for sale (one example of many.)

Background:

Previously - Canada loves a homegrown oligarchy,


Loblaw Companies (which owns multiple stores) owns about 30% of the Canadian grocery market. Shopper's Drug Mart, which is a pharmacy chain owned by Loblaw, also has about 30% of market share with the next largest pharmacy chain owning 7.7%. PC Financial is their financial wing, and claims to have about 3 million customers, which is roughly 7% of Canadians.

Inflationary pressures as well as what's perceived (and I personally believe is often) predatory pricing (in patr based on charging suppliers for SKUs) has left Canadians with a sour taste in their mouths. The Reddit-based group Loblaws is out of control has been a core organizer. The tenor of the boycott is do what you can, no worries if you have to shop there, here are some tools to help.

Anecdotally I was in the store across from the Loblaws store on the weekend and in line one of the people shopping struck up a conversation with me and turned our we were both boycotting - that led to about five other people saying they were too. We all high fived each other in solidarity. Grocery shopping hasn't been this much fun in a while.

posted by warriorqueen (42 comments total)

Whoops, sorry for the typos, my dog jostling my arm while I was previewing. But this post is canine approved.
posted by warriorqueen at 8:12 AM on June 4 [11 favorites]

My riposte to people saying that isn't just Loblaws that is shitty, it's all of our grocery chains, is yes, that is true but if Galen Weston hadn't insisted on pretending poor while he rakes in record profits in front of fucking Parliament no less, then maybe we wouldn't need to boycott. He's just the CEO that publicly painted a target on his back.
posted by Kitteh at 8:13 AM on June 4 [6 favorites]

I hate these people so much but the Naturally Imperfect sub-brand of No Name is excellent value for produce. Really the only time we go in a Loblaws shop is when something's on loss-leader sale, so I don't feel toooo bad about occasionally breaking the boycott. We definitely need to switch pharmacies though.
posted by seanmpuckett at 8:18 AM on June 4 [5 favorites]

Agreed Kitteh! And my take is, everyone has to eat so it's really only feasible to boycott a specific number of stores - so make an example of Loblaws and everyone may pick up their socks.
posted by warriorqueen at 8:20 AM on June 4 [4 favorites]

I completely understand if folks can't boycott Weston chains; seriously we LOVE a oligarchy up here so Weston stores are everywhere. Most of the time they are the only option in small towns. I did switch my Rx from Shoppers to an independently owned pharmacy!
posted by Kitteh at 8:24 AM on June 4 [5 favorites]

I hold to the boycott when I can, but it's not always realistic given my options.

Yesterday I was at No Frills, and they have this huge sign posted above the tills announcing current prices on bananas, bread, and milk. And milk was $6.06. I just stared at that a while. Over six bucks. I've never seen that before in my life. And the cheapest of hot dogs were $6.50 a pack.

I'm not buying avocado toast or anything fancy. The cheapest of basics. I come out of there with one bag and having spent a hundred bucks on nothing.
posted by Capt. Renault at 8:25 AM on June 4 [9 favorites]

Capt. Renault: Right??? I spent $80 of groceries there before the boycott and I was like, there was nothing fancy in my cart. It was just basics!
posted by Kitteh at 8:31 AM on June 4 [2 favorites]

For everyone who can't boycott - that's okay, as people say on the subreddit - those of us who can are boycotting for you too. I live in Scarborough, I have a car, we have approximately a zillion options. It's really okay to not have options or need to continue routines for whatever reason. We all have to eat.

Food prices are really getting disturbing. I feed currently 6 in my household, 3 of whom are young men and two of whom are bodybuilding, so I notice everything. I know some of that is inflation and some is probably a necessary adjustment in the face of climate change and supply chain logistics and that we have to mitigate some of that in other ways like increasing social supports.

But I do believe the major chains are gleefully participating. My local independently owned "international/asian" market has raised prices at a much, much slower rate. I've noticed a bit of shrinkflation (crackers are crackers) and a little bit of quality jostling, but they still seem to have the same number of staff, etc.

The penny dropped for me when I learned they charge for SKU placement. So Loblaws/the big chains charges suppliers to supply product, and those costs are baked in alongside the other changes. No wonder things are going up TWICE.

Also food at Shoppers is insanely expensive. A jar of peanut butter, regular old Kraft, was $10.99 when I was in picking up my neighbour's prescriptions for her.
posted by warriorqueen at 8:34 AM on June 4 [5 favorites]

My wife and I have been trying to avoid shopping at Loblaws/Weston stores for a while now, because we have multiple convenient and cheaper options nearby anyway, but early Sunday evening we had to pop into Loblaws for one thing we didn't think would be available anywhere else. The place was practically deserted, much less busy than it usually was back when we did semi-regularly shop there on Sundays; maybe that was a coincidence or a fluke, but it sounds like maybe not.
posted by The Card Cheat at 8:35 AM on June 4 [5 favorites]

Loblaws is in the grocery distribution business and many truly independent stores still have to source some products through Weston's warehouses. It makes me sick.
posted by seanmpuckett at 8:36 AM on June 4 [2 favorites]

We stopped shopping at Loblaws years ago. Their prices have been nuts for a long time compared to non-Loblaws stores in my neighbourhood. The only time I go into one is when I can't find something I need at one of my regular stores.
posted by fimbulvetr at 8:54 AM on June 4 [1 favorite]

I hold to the boycott when I can, but it's not always realistic given my options.
Capt. Renault, if it helps you feel any better: i am now boycotting Loblaws. granted, i had no idea it existed before this morning. i won't go there though until this is resolved.

if anyone wants to bring me up to speed, the PressProgress article linked to on the other thread mentioned "Open the NS/NB Border". yet they're part of a group that tried to close the border? [CTV News]
posted by HearHere at 8:58 AM on June 4

I was at Food Basics the other day and my jaw dropped to see that a 1 kg jar of Kraft peanut butter was nearly 8 bucks so yikes at other places too.

Shepherd and I eat vegan/vegetarian and even with that diet, shit is still crazy pricey.
posted by Kitteh at 9:19 AM on June 4 [1 favorite]

We went into superstore the other day because we happened to be nearby and it has always been the cheapest of the Loblaws brands, but man, even there the prices seemed crazy. Like, I get prices are up everywhere, but when going to Superstore makes you long for the insane pricing of your local Metro, something has gone wrong.
posted by jacquilynne at 9:40 AM on June 4 [5 favorites]

Remember, on top of ripping off their customers, Loblaws is notorious for it's terrible treatment of it's employees. An equal opportunity evil villain, so to speak.
posted by cfraenkel at 9:52 AM on June 4 [2 favorites]

Started just before May, still going with with the boycott.
We’re lucky that we have several independents really close by, and as a last resort Farm Boy (which is just Sobeys.)
Trickier with the gas station in that there’s just the Esso near us, but we barely drive and I think I used them once in May.
posted by chococat at 10:17 AM on June 4 [1 favorite]

I went to the SuperStore just before Easter and was pleasantly surprised to find that some of the prices there were cheaper than at my usual Sobey's chain. I am guessing where I live the prices will just not bear what they do in big cities or populous provinces, so they don't have as high a mark up as in Toronto or Vancouver. There were a few items that seemed to be priced relatively reasonably. They are competing with Sobey's for not very many shoppers in my area. I gotta go there more often, I said, thinking perhaps every six weeks.

But before I could get there again the boycott started. Well damn.

Finally the boycott's over! I can try to pick up some of their cheap frozen stuff. No, it's not. The boycott is continuing... Well damn.

Let me know when it ends, okay? I hope I can go back some day, because actually I could have saved a little bit of money.

I don't think I will try No-Frills again tho, because the last time I went to the local one about four years ago the prices were no better than the SuperStore but all the produce was manky.
posted by Jane the Brown at 10:33 AM on June 4 [3 favorites]

We are still boycotting, but really it’s pretty much “choose your billionaire” for a lot of people. We switched to the FreshCo across the street from the Loblaws for a lot of things but also now really rely heavily on the neighborhood independent butchers, veggie sellers and bakeries for those goods, instead of just occasionally going to them. One butcher told us their traffic was waaaay up throughout May. The boycott has been a good pilot project for another way to live.
posted by ThatCanadianGirl at 10:43 AM on June 4 [5 favorites]

I live in downtown K-town and my walkable options for the big guys are Metro and Food Basics. We have a lot of Asian supermarkets downtown too but they don't carry as much produce because the majority of their regular clientele are Queen's international students, so it's a lot of snacks and frozen foods. (No complaints because I discovered some nice vegan options in the freezer aisle!) Pan Chancho sells fresh bread and other fancy vittles, there is at least two butchers I can think of, and a natural foods store that I love even if it isn't the most cheap option.
posted by Kitteh at 10:55 AM on June 4 [2 favorites]

I've been happy to boycott. Our local Metro is bad - small and falling apart and runs out of the milk we like too often, so we're making due with produce deliveries from Oddbunch and drives out to Nations or Costco.

The Westons own so many things. In Canada not only do they own a variety of grocery chains and the country's biggest pharmacy chain, but the family investment firm - Witting Investments - owns high end retailer Holt Renfrew and was a major partner in bringing Eataly to Canada.

Galen's brother George runs the family's UK arm - Associated British Foods. They own Primark, Fortum & Mason, and brands like Ryvita, Ovaltine, British Sugar and Twining.

A lot of people are boycotting Loblaws and SDM but they've got a hand in so many businesses.
posted by thecjm at 11:19 AM on June 4 [7 favorites]

omg Ryvita! Shit. Thanks for commenting, thecjm.
posted by cybercoitus interruptus at 11:23 AM on June 4 [1 favorite]

I boycotted in May and moved my family's prescriptions to an independent neighbourhood pharmacy.

I will relax my boycotting a little bit over the summer because a) there are a few No Name and President's Choice products where the kids will only eat that brand, and b) No Frills is in my neighbourhood, it's walkable and going there is community participation.

I wish Alberta had more choices, but since we have the space and money to stockpile and I am highly motivated by low prices, I am still going the vast majority of the time to H&W (cheap produce), Walmart, Costco and H-Mart.
posted by kitcat at 11:32 AM on June 4 [1 favorite]

We are still boycotting, but really it’s pretty much “choose your billionaire” for a lot of people.

I hear you, but my hope is that Loblaws being taken down a few pegs shows each and every one of them that it can happen to you. Maybe we can't get humanity back into capital markets, but maybe we can get the fear of being labelled the next great evil after Lord Sweater Vest to dissuade at least some of their worst urges.
posted by openhearted at 11:36 AM on June 4 [2 favorites]

We've been taking part in the boycott and it's been fairly easy because there's a Metro nearby so I can just walk/bike there for quick stuff. On the weekends there's a FreshCo near the comic shop so I can visit both in one trip. I know ultimately the other options are about the same but hopefully this puts fear into the other owners so that they keep their avarice in check. And hey once we get sick of the Loblaws boycott maybe we'll move on to the Metro or Sobey's one.

On Sunday I ended up going to a farmers market, and three separate grocery stores: Grande Cheese Factory for some cheese, canned tomatoes, and pasta, HMart which was next door for some fruit, and then FreshCo for whatever was missing on my list. It was during my kid's volleyball practice so I was kind of killing time and doing some other errands as well, but it's probably more time spent on groceries than I'd like. Although I can skip going to Grande Cheese most weeks.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 11:39 AM on June 4 [1 favorite]

Although I can skip going to Grande Cheese most weeks.

But why would you?
posted by jacquilynne at 11:47 AM on June 4 [2 favorites]

I was a smallish kid when my parents dealt with an inflationary decade by joining/operating small scale co-ops, and it is occurring to me that they did this without spreadsheet software or the internet and with long distance calls expensive by the minute. And it was still worth it to them for years.
posted by clew at 11:54 AM on June 4 [3 favorites]

In Toronto we’re using Mama Earth for delivered produce. It is not cheap but it is a B corporation and they source local when possible. I do Costco runs every other month. And there’s Food Basics for most things with tactical strikes elsewhere for good sales. HMart and Galleria are close, and Lucky Moose a bit farther. Dollarama has rice cakes and other snacks.

We’re fortunate to have such choice.
posted by seanmpuckett at 12:09 PM on June 4 [1 favorite]

My favourite thing about this boycott is the overall feeling of community and connection. More people are shopping at farmer's markets and small, locally owned food markets and pharmacies. My local fruit market is usually busy but it's been really hopping lately. My coworkers have been sharing tips and info about shopping locally, too.
posted by Stoof at 2:42 PM on June 4 [5 favorites]

Are Canadians paying higher prices by boycotting Weston brands, or lower? Because I don't think shopping at the cheaper merchant because its cheaper actually counts as a boycotting, instead of capitalism-ing.
posted by MattD at 3:56 PM on June 4 [2 favorites]

Well, the problem is we don't really have "cheap" groceries. We have sometimes slightly cheaper groceries, and if you are someone who lives close to the border and owns a car, sometimes you dip down into the US for some things that are super cheap even with the exchange rate. (I still remain unconvinced about that.)

Canadians pay a lot more than Americans for things like cell phone plans, groceries. Canada is pretty stringent about protecting Canadian consumers from large outside players all in the name of Keeping It Canadian. This is often to our detriment.

All of our major grocers across the country are owned by three corporations; they set the prices and with the cost of living rising ever higher everywhere, here especially, it is galling to have those CEOS claim that profits are down when in fact they are pretty fucking high. If you live in smaller communities, you have to shop at any of the brands owned by the Big Three because they are everywhere. ndependent grocery stores aren't cheaper but then they aren't run by corporations either.

Will it make a dent in Galen Weston's big fat pockets? Probably not but I'd prefer even minor action than just going, "Golly gee, that Weston fella sure is super rich from all the gouging*. Welp, guess I better do nothing."

*Weston's stores were discovered in a bread fixing scandal a few years ago so pleading innocence is pretty shit
posted by Kitteh at 4:20 PM on June 4 [2 favorites]

→ I live in Scarborough, I have a car, we have approximately a zillion options

Likewise. Highland Farms (independent, not super cheap, but have things no-one else does) and Adonis (55% owned by Metro, but otherwise a Middle Eastern-Quebec store with the best pita bakery in the world). For good peanut butter in quantity, Healthy Planet. HP's bulletin board/flyer section is a bit batshit (antivax/raw milk, etc etc), but what they sell isn't bad at all.

Sad to hear about Ryvita being a Weston-aligned joint. It's my favourite corrugated cardboard for light snacking.
posted by scruss at 4:22 PM on June 4

Other Scarborough things: the owner of Foody World was investigated by the foreign influence committee, also seemingly keen on using the facial ID payment system SnapPay.

Coppa's, hidden way down in the south east, is apparently the other half of the Highland Farm chain. The family split a few years ago.

(Not about Scarborough: if you can get to the giant Highland Farms in Mississauga, it's an incredible shrine of early 80s decor. Seriously, people should make movies in there. It also has about the largest selection of foods I've ever seen. Amazing place.)
posted by scruss at 5:25 PM on June 4

Let's not forget the link between Loblaws and the federal Conservatives.
posted by monkeymike at 5:52 PM on June 4 [1 favorite]

I've said it before and I'm going to keep on saying: if you sell meat and produce by the kilogram then your flyers should also have prices by the kilogram. What's to stop them from advertising by half unit? ie Buns $0.50 (per bun, package of 8). Linguini $1.50 (per half box). Not lies but not truth, either.

I get it, we all get it - these stores exist not to feed the people but to make money, or at least to make lots of money while feeding the people - that's what businesses do. But you're doing it wrong if the people are revolting against you, and you're doing it even more wrong if you double down by not addressing these concerns.

I shop at Loblaws stores only when they have something on sale, and that's about it. I give my money to FreshCo, sometimes to the big independent Chinese store.

Stay strong, boycotters!
posted by ashbury at 7:06 PM on June 4 [1 favorite]

Unfortunately, shopping at an independent grocer is no guarantee of ethical behaviour either. And yes, a pox on Galen and the rest of the Weston clan.
posted by sardonyx at 7:29 PM on June 4

Roblaws lost me when they decided that no, they weren't going to continue to mark their about-to-expire items down by 50 percent since people who were counting on those markdowns had little choice and might continue to buy them at only 30 percent off. Seriously, they prefer to throw things out rather than give people that tiny break.

It's been nice to see folks rediscovering the little independent grocers in my neighbourhood. I do miss my President's Choice stuff, though.
posted by rpfields at 10:34 PM on June 4 [1 favorite]

I am delighted by this. Broke the boycott once in the last couple of months for a few kid pleasing items that were hard to find. Noticeably fewer shoppers. Noticeably less stocked shelves. Signs about renovating that I’m now curious about.

Also - Loblaws brilliantly chose this moment to roll out a “receipt check” as I’m leaving. Which, I’ve got to be honest, feels like play acting the heel of capitalism on my neck.

The part that makes me most frustrated is paying Iceland prices for Iceland quality produce in the country producing a lot of this food. Produce used to be _better_ as well as cheaper.

To MattD’s reasonable question: For me, sometimes the alternatives are cheaper, sometimes they’re not. The main problem is that there’s an oligopoly with ridiculous market power in Canada that keeps getting caught fixing prices, driving up prices and pretending it’s inflation, and just ruining food in Canada. The Loblaws owned companies happen to be the biggest and worst. Because of the concentration it takes some work to avoid them. It is liberating to see it’s possible and delicious to see we’re having impact.
posted by ~ at 5:37 AM on June 5 [2 favorites]

Yeah, the receipt checks, and in some Toronto stores, fire hazard barriers near the exit to prevent theft (*cough* bullshit *cough*) is just another reason that it's easy to boycott them.
posted by Kitteh at 6:29 AM on June 5 [1 favorite]

Yeah, our nearest Roblaws is the flagship in Maple Leaf Gardens and when the barriers went up it became just even more bizarre. I don't even understand that store. The checkouts are a good 30 metres away from the exits, and there's a bunch of lunch counters and other crap on the way out, it's not like you have to try to shoplift. It's like you have to try to remember to pay. We go in there so rarely now I have no idea if there's still an actual off-duty cop at the exit earning probably $60 an hour to make people hate the store even more.
posted by seanmpuckett at 7:09 AM on June 5 [3 favorites]

Are Canadians paying higher prices by boycotting Weston brands, or lower?

Superstore and No Frills were always the cheapest options (at least, in Alberta). Until they raised their prices in the years after covid. But even now, if you had to choose one grocery store to shop at exclusively, you might pay a tiny bit less by only shopping at Walmart - which very few people enjoy doing for numerous reasons.

So, yes, boycotting mostly means we are paying more for things. In order to try to pay the same amount as I would pay at No Frills for example, I travel to 2 extra stores (Walmart and Hmart). But other people are willing to go to Safeway or Save-On which are definitely more expensive than the Loblaws stores.
posted by kitcat at 10:32 AM on June 5 [1 favorite]

The only thing this excellent post is missing are This Hour has 22 Minutes Galen Weston sketches, starring Chris Wilson: Price Fixing-Er, Freezing The Galen Weston Apology Tour
posted by stray at 9:32 AM on June 6 [3 favorites]

Full marks to the guy I saw in Fortinos tonight wearing a “ROBLAWS” t-shirt. Into the belly of the beast.
posted by Capt. Renault at 5:50 PM on June 6 [3 favorites]