If there are fewer shoppers at your local Loblaws or Loblaw-affiliated grocery store this May, it may be because people are boycotting it.
There is a planned boycott of stores that fall under the Loblaw Companies Ltd. umbrella through the entire month of May (or longer if possible).
The grassroots boycott movement began on Reddit, in the r/loblawsisoutofcontrol subreddit, which turned into a more organized effort to boycott Loblaw stores for an entire month.
Organizers want two things: 1) a reduction in prices of 15 per cent, and 2) for Loblaws to eliminate “members-only pricing,” which rewards customers with a PC Optimum card with discount prices on certain items.
“A lot of natural conversations about boycotting started to emerge on the sub. So the moderation team felt it was kind of our job now to arrange and organize this boycott,” one of the organizers, Emily Johnson, told Metroland in a previous interview.
“The biggest dream that I have for this, is for people to learn more about other options, shopping locally and avoiding these big grocers. And we also want to send a message that Canadians don’t want to tolerate monopolies anymore.”
When asked for comment, Loblaw Companies Ltd., said: “As a business, we are acutely aware of the fact that we have to win our customers’ business each and every day. The last few years have been tough for Canadians, and we continue to do what we can to combat inflation at our stores.”
Sylvain Charlebois, a researcher and professor in food distribution and policy at Dalhousie University, says he’s not surprised by the anger directed at Loblaw brands.
“I think it’s quite expected to see so much anger against grocers, and in particular Loblaws,” he said.
He points out the bread price-fixing scandal is still fresh, people equate grocery store price increases with former Loblaw CEO Galen Weston, and a lot people don’t appreciate the impact of supply chains on grocery store prices.
“Loblaw’s PR strategy over the last several months has been amazingly pathetic, to be honest. It’s like they were looking for this boycott,” he said.
However, Charlebois says the anger may be wrongly placed.
“When you look at the data, technically the boycott should be against all grocers because food prices have gone up everywhere, not just at Loblaws,” he said
“We did a survey recently and Loblaws is seen as the best discounter in the country, followed by Walmart, third place is Costco, fourth is Metro and fifth is Giant Tiger.”
Lastly, when asked if a successful boycott could lead to lower prices, Charlebois said no, but the good news is that grocery store prices are already starting to come down.
“We’re actually seeing in the numbers right now, things are softening already, and StatCan will probably confirm this in a few months from now. But it doesn’t matter or not if the boycott is successful, prices will likely drop for many categories,” he said.
Boycott organizers say if people do participate, they should avoid spending their grocery dollars at the other four Big 5 grocery chains (Walmart, Costco, Empire, and Metro) and look for alternative options.
Organizers provide the following tips:
• Look for your local farmers market association to help you search for local markets
• Look for local independent grocers (actual local independent grocers, not the Loblaw-owned one)
• Look for local farms or co-ops to purchase from if possible
• Check out provincial/territorial lists of local businesses and vendors
• Consider meal prepping
• Consider going to the grocery store with a list, and sticking to it
• If you have the time and space, look at learning to garden, or look into local community garden plots
Non-Big 5 grocery brands
Organizers have also provided the names of other grocers available in Ontario. They include:
• Ambrosia Natural Foods
• Askew’s Foods
• Asian Food Centre
• Battaglia’s
• Bruno’s Fine Foods
• Centra Food Market
• Coppa’s Fresh Market
• Cousin’s Market
• Denninger’s
• Fairway Markets
• Family Foods
• Fiesta Farms
• Foodex
• FoodFare
• Fresh City Market
• Galleria Supermarkets
• Georgia Main Food Group
• Goodness Me
• Giant Tiger
• Grocery Outlet (formerly Almost Perfect)
• Healthy Planet
• Highland Farms
• Karma Coop
• Kim Phat
• Lalumière Bonanza
• L&M Markets (Hometown Grocers Co-op)
• Le Jardin Mobile
• Lococo’s
• Lucky Supermarket
• Mike Dean Local Grocer
• Nations Fresh Food
• Odd Bunch
• Organic Garage
• Panchvati Supermarket
• P.A.T. Mart
• Rabba Fine Foods
• Starsky Fine Foods
• Supermarché PA (five stores)
• Vince’s Market
• Yummy Market
— With files from Brett Glover
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