Canada’s major grocers face push for plan to stabilize prices

With the holidays fast approaching, it looks like the federal government is running out of patience with the heads of big grocers in Canada and they are being asked, once again, to explain what they’re doing to stabilize food prices.

Last week, a House of Commons committee passed a motion to invite the executives back to Ottawa to testify about the measures their companies are taking to tackle food inflation.

This comes after federal Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said the companies did have a plan, which included discounts, price freezes, and price-matching campaigns, but most of the companies have not confirmed any of those details.

The committee says the grocers have until Nov. 2 to submit their plans.

Recently, Champagne met with the bosses of the five biggest grocers in the country: Loblaw, Sobeys, Metro, Costco, and Walmart, but a timeline for when you may see prices go down was never determined. He also met with the producers and food manufacturers.

Ottawa previously threatened to tax grocers if they did not create a plan to make food more affordable.

Last month the federal government also took action to amend the Competition Act by trying to push through Bill C-56. The push is to bring more competitors into the market, which would in theory lead to lower prices. The changes would also hold grocery chains, among others, accountable for their retail pricing.

Earlier this month, the Retail Council of Canada, which represents many of the major grocers, felt the companies were being made out to be scapegoats, telling CityNews that more than 70 per cent of food costs at stores is linked to the price from suppliers, and only two per cent is actual store profit.

Statistics Canada says price growth for groceries has slowed in recent months but is still high.

“The deceleration stemmed from year-over-year slowdowns in meat (+4.4 per cent), dairy products (+4.0 per cent) and coffee and tea (+2.7 per cent), which were mainly driven by base-year effects.

“In contrast, prices for fresh fruit (+3.0 per cent), fish (+5.1 per cent), bakery products (+8.0 per cent) and edible fats and oils (+14.8 per cent) increased at a faster pace on a year-over-year basis in September compared with August,” says the federal agency on its website.

Grocery prices increased at the fastest pace in 41 years in September 2022.

–With files from Emma Crawford and The Canadian Press