Boycott Loblaws?

[gunluvr]

You see grossly inflated items all the time. Whether it's just an honest mistake or not, it's bad optics for food stores and gets plastered on social media.You have to know your prices and keep a well stocked pantry and freezer so you don't have to buy things at a higher price. I try to mostly only buy pantry items when they're on sale. Funny how nesecities like milk and eggs are never on sale. Beef is pretty much unaffordable. A moose in the freezer helps a lot.
I agree that inflation is a product of liberal government more than anything else. This boycott thing will probably fizzle quickly but would be interesting if it gets noticed.

[Au revoir, Gopher]

Originally Posted by creeky

Both Loblaws and Safeway reported record profits last quarter of 2023, IIRC 12 million available alone to "common shareholders" (Loblaws).


Creeky....


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Lets see, last quarter they sold $100 worth of goods and had a $4.00 profit, this quarter they sold the same goods, but they sold for $105. With the same 4% profit margin they made a record $4.20 profit. So inflation drove up their sales value and along with it their profits. Yup, round 'em up and hang 'em high!

ARG

[dmcbride]

https://nationalpost.com/opinion/mat...cely-competing

Matthew Lau: Loblaw and other grocers are already fiercely competing

International grocery chains don't come here, because prices are already 'good'

Here’s an analogy to help describe the Trudeau government’s industrial policy shambles: Suppose Gary Bettman decides the NHL is not competitive enough, and so to “increase competition” for the Stanley Cup and make things more exciting for fans, he handpicks two dozen teams from other leagues — the Finnish Elite League, the Swedish Hockey League, Czech Extraliga, and the National League in Switzerland — and invites them to join the NHL.

One problem with this scheme is that teams from those leagues aren’t as good as existing NHL teams. So to even things out, suppose Bettman decrees existing NHL teams must forthwith play the last three minutes of every period shorthanded, their goalie must use a regular player’s stick, and the goal they are defending will be widened by six inches for the last ten minutes of the game. Moreover, the newly joining teams will be allowed to ice the puck even if not killing a penalty and will be given an extra skaters during the first, third, and fifth minutes of play in each period.

As hockey fans would regard this attempt to “increase competition” in the NHL as preposterous and absurd, so too should Canadians regard as preposterous the Trudeau government’s recent efforts to increase competition in the grocery sector. These efforts began in earnest in 2022 with a series of attacks on the grocery companies currently serving the market. Members of Parliament from all parties interrogated executives from Loblaw, Empire Company (owner of Sobeys and other brands), Metro, Walmart, and Costco about their financial and corporate strategies, castigating the companies for allegedly earning too much money, making grocery prices too high, and paying employees too little.

Then came the Trudeau government’s threats of special taxation and random government orders that changed the rules of the game in the grocery sector in ways that made no sense. Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne issued instructions to the five major grocery companies to stabilize prices and promised that unless they offered aggressive discounts on key food products there would be more government action to enforce “food price stability.” The government established a “Grocery Task Force” to monitor grocery stores actions and investigate them for supposed practices the government considers to “hurt consumers.” The government then forced a “Grocery Code of Conduct” onto the industry to tighten its grip on how companies operate and gave the Competition Bureau more power to investigate grocery companies if they are “behaving unfairly.”

After slapping these penalties and restrictions onto existing grocery companies and the consumers they serve, the federal government now claims to be working to increase competition by luring new companies into the Canadian market. The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that the industry minister “is weighing a list of a dozen foreign grocery companies — from the U.S., Germany, Turkey and Portugal, among others — to potentially lure to the country in a bid to increase competition in the domestic food-retailing sector.” Luring two automobile companies to set up electric vehicle battery plants in Ontario last year already cost taxpayers nearly $30 billion; what market distortions the federal government might impose and how much taxpayers’ money it spends on this latest initiative is anyone’s guess.

Why are international grocery companies reluctant to come to Canada as it is now? One explanation is that over eight years of reckless fiscal and regulatory policy from the federal government have depressed investment all around. Additional explanations have been given by those international grocers themselves. The Competition Bureau asked international grocers what keeps them out of Canada and reported, “All of the international grocers we spoke to said that they would face tough competition from Canadian grocers if they entered Canada.” Moreover, existing private labels in Canada are very popular: all the international grocers “believe these are high-quality products and good prices.”

In other words, we don’t have more international grocers in Canada because the existing companies serving the market are already competing fiercely with each other and are providing shoppers with excellent prices and quality. The Trudeau government’s reaction thus far has been to try to take control of grocery prices and quality through “price stability” diktats, codes of conduct, and threats of punitive taxation — and then try to lure international grocers to Canada for no apparent reason other than to be able to say it increased competition. But when the government centrally plans who will compete and how they must compete, that’s not real competition. That’s just preposterous.

National Post

Matthew Lau is a Toronto writer.

[58thecat]

Originally Posted by pikergolf

Pfft, boycott what a stupid idea, I guess it never dawned on a people to shop around. It's a competition folks, go buy your stuff where it is the cheapest, here's a hint it will not all be at the same store.

Agree but don’t spend 20 bucks on gas driving around to save 10 bucks on groceries.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Grizzly Adams1]

Originally Posted by 58thecat

Agree but don’t spend 20 bucks on gas driving around to save 10 bucks on groceries.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The smart people in Sundre make a list, some even get together to bulk buy in Olds , save about 20 %. Lady at Wall Mart confided Sat. afternoon is Sundre shopper time. I know one family on a limited income, who moved to Rocky because there's more competition.

[Bigwoodsman]

Originally Posted by Au revoir, Gopher

Lets see, last quarter they sold $100 worth of goods and had a $4.00 profit, this quarter they sold the same goods, but they sold for $105. With the same 4% profit margin they made a record $4.20 profit. So inflation drove up their sales value and along with it their profits. Yup, round 'em up and hang 'em high!

ARG

Inflation also drives up the cost of the goods for the seller.

BW

[Sundog57]

A 4% net income?
Not a stellar performer, and not one that i would hold in my portfolio
While the numbers available for distribution through dividends appear impressive, Loblaws only pays a 1% dividend
Most retail investors are looking for a better rate of return.
That being said one of the investors in Loblaws is the Canada Pension Plan - their holding is not large but they do receive about $750,000 in dividends a year which go toward paying out CPP payments - no profit, no dividends. No dividends, no pension payout

Jagmeet and the Clown Prince's bleating notwithstanding, inflation, carbon tax and corporate income taxes play a huge role in the cost of groceries.
While my company normally pays a fuel premium on our trucking contracts, the Carbon Tax has added between 3 and 8% to my company's transportation costs. Think about it for a second - transportation makes up a not insignificant part of the cost structure for any retailer - raise the cost of transportation and ???
Unlike what the Clown Prince says, companies are not willing or able to absorb this increase in costs.
Then we have heating in retail outlets and distribution centres, fuel used in production of the groceries themselves, that would be farm fuel and processing fuel, etc.etc. etc.
Then you have increased interest costs as a result of the Clown Prince, Jagmeet and Freemoney's complete disregard for anything that remotely resembles fiscal discipline.
Input costs go up - retail costs go up, simple as that.

I imagine that that buffoon would be singing a different song if he was trying to live according to his means on a part-time drama teacher's salary

[creeky]

Originally Posted by Pathfinder76

Solvent grocery stores is kind of a win. For people that like to eat anyway.

Solvent is indeed a win-gouging the general population for an essential service in the toughest of times is a whole other creature.


Creeky....


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[creeky]

Originally Posted by Au revoir, Gopher

Lets see, last quarter they sold $100 worth of goods and had a $4.00 profit, this quarter they sold the same goods, but they sold for $105. With the same 4% profit margin they made a record $4.20 profit. So inflation drove up their sales value and along with it their profits. Yup, round 'em up and hang 'em high

ARG

Yup. Honey git my rope!


Creeky....


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[jungleboy]

The Trudeau mafia want to continuously raise taxes and then pretend it doesn’t affect the consumers. They are either naive or flat out liars. I’m going with liars and anyone who is still supporting them is living in a dream world.

You tax the supplier and the supplier passes it on to the consumer. You tax the trucker ,they pass it on to the supplier who passes it on to the consumer.

Guess who always gets the full brunt of it in the end?

[dmcbride]

Originally Posted by creeky

Solvent is indeed a win-gouging the general population for an essential service in the toughest of times is a whole other creature.


Creeky....


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Look deeper,

https://www.thestar.com/business/thi...505c63bd9.html

“ For one, the price of butter is impacted by the federal Canadian Dairy Commission, which surveys farmers to assess the cost of producing butterfat and skim milk. It then informs provincial boards how much processors should pay. Because the demand for butter is on the rise, the commission has recommended significant increases for farmers, Charlebois said.

“Those increases at the farm level get compounded throughout the supply chain. If you’re a dairy processor, you end up paying way more, and grocers tend to adjust prices accordingly,” he said. “Twelve per cent at the farm gate can look more like a 25 to 30 per cent (increase) in retail.”


Now add the Carbon tax

[creeky]

Originally Posted by dmcbride

Look deeper,

https://www.thestar.com/business/thi...505c63bd9.html

“ For one, the price of butter is impacted by the federal Canadian Dairy Commission, which surveys farmers to assess the cost of producing butterfat and skim milk. It then informs provincial boards how much processors should pay. Because the demand for butter is on the rise, the commission has recommended significant increases for farmers, Charlebois said.

“Those increases at the farm level get compounded throughout the supply chain. If you’re a dairy processor, you end up paying way more, and grocers tend to adjust prices accordingly,” he said. “Twelve per cent at the farm gate can look more like a 25 to 30 per cent (increase) in retail.”


Now add the Carbon tax

Seen that piece and understand that chain of process.

Gouging is occurring from true CBD (post wholesale) to what the customer pays at the checkout. As in, declared profit margins are lower than what they are in reality.



Creeky....


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[dmcbride]

Originally Posted by creeky

Seen that piece and understand that chain of process.

Gouging is occurring from true CBD (post wholesale) to what the customer pays at the checkout. As in, declared profit margins are lower than what they are in reality.



Creeky....


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Do you think gouging is having more of an effect then the other issues? The parliamentary committee studying this issue didn’t find much evidence of gouging. Would assume they had the power to look at everything and if they did find evidence we would surly hear about it.

[pikergolf]

Originally Posted by 58thecat

Agree but don’t spend 20 bucks on gas driving around to save 10 bucks on groceries.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

You drive a hummer?

[-JR-]

If there is a small group that wants to boycott them they better stand in front of the door with their picket sighs ,other wise it will do nothing. That place is so full of shoppers a few hundred people not shopping there will do nothing .

[pikergolf]

Originally Posted by -JR-

If there is a small group that wants to boycott them they better stand in front of the door with their picket sighs ,other wise it will do nothing. That place is so full of shoppers a few hundred people not shopping there will do nothing .

I doubt that is true, businesses watch numbers pretty closely. The only reason I ever go into Superstore now is for the lose leaders, I guarantee they know about the us folks that do that. It is why Superstore ties a lot of their really good lose leaders to a large purchase.

[Pathfinder76]

Originally Posted by creeky

Solvent is indeed a win-gouging the general population for an essential service in the toughest of times is a whole other creature.


Creeky....


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Just go buy cheaper groceries somewhere else.

[WV911]

Loblaws and every other grocery store are a business not a food bank, they are supposed to make money and I find them the cheapest anyway.

As for Jagmeet, I think he is more despicable than Trudeau, he and his party are leeches riding on the Liberals coat tails, I hate him more than Trudeau.

[elkhunter11]

Originally Posted by dmcbride

https://nationalpost.com/opinion/mat...cely-competing

Matthew Lau: Loblaw and other grocers are already fiercely competing

International grocery chains don't come here, because prices are already 'good'





Here’s an analogy to help describe the Trudeau government’s industrial policy shambles: Suppose Gary Bettman decides the NHL is not competitive enough, and so to “increase competition” for the Stanley Cup and make things more exciting for fans, he handpicks two dozen teams from other leagues — the Finnish Elite League, the Swedish Hockey League, Czech Extraliga, and the National League in Switzerland — and invites
them to join the NHL.

One problem with this scheme is that teams from those leagues aren’t as good as existing NHL teams. So to even things out, suppose Bettman decrees existing NHL teams must forthwith play the last three minutes of every period shorthanded, their goalie must use a regular
player’s stick, and the goal they are defending will be widened by six inches for the last ten minutes of the game. Moreover, the newly joining teams will be allowed to ice the puck even if not killing a penalty and will be given an extra skaters during the first, third, and fifth minutes of play in each period.

As hockey fans would regard this attempt to “increase competition” in the NHL as preposterous and absurd, so too should Canadians regard as preposterous the Trudeau government’s recent efforts to increase competition in the grocery sector. These efforts began in earnest in 2022 with a series of attacks on the grocery
companies currently serving the market. Members of Parliament from all parties interrogated executives from Loblaw, Empire Company (owner of Sobeys and other brands), Metro, Walmart, and Costco about their financial and corporate strategies, castigating the
companies for allegedly earning too much money, making grocery prices too high, and paying employees too little.

Then came the Trudeau government’s threats of special taxation and random government orders that changed the rules of the game in the grocery sector in ways that
made no sense. Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne issued instructions to the five major grocery companies to stabilize prices and promised that unless they offered aggressive discounts on key food products there would be more government action to enforce “food price stability.” The government established a “Grocery Task Force” to monitor grocery stores actions and investigate them for supposed practices the government
considers to “hurt consumers.” The government then forced a “Grocery Code of Conduct” onto the industry to tighten its grip on how companies operate and gave the Competition Bureau more power to investigate grocery companies if they are “behaving unfairly.”

After slapping these penalties and restrictions onto existing grocery companies and the consumers they serve, the federal government now claims to be working to increase competition by luring new companies into the Canadian market. The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that the industry minister “is weighing a list of a dozen foreign grocery companies — from the U.S., Germany, Turkey and Portugal, among others — to potentially lure to the country in a bid to increase competition in the domestic food-retailing sector.” Luring two automobile companies to set up electric vehicle battery plants in Ontario last year already cost taxpayers
nearly $30 billion; what market distortions the federal government might impose and how much taxpayers’ money it spends on this latest initiative is anyone’s guess.

Why are international grocery companies reluctant to come to Canada as it is now? One explanation is that over eight years of reckless fiscal and regulatory policy from the federal government have depressed investment
all around. Additional explanations have been given by those international grocers themselves. The Competition Bureau asked international grocers what keeps them out of Canada and reported, “All of the international grocers we spoke to said that they would face tough competition from Canadian grocers if they entered Canada.” Moreover, existing private labels in Canada are very popular: all the international grocers “believe these are high-quality products and good prices.

In other words, we don’t have more international grocers in Canada because the existing companies serving the market are already competing fiercely with each other and are providing shoppers with excellent prices and quality. The Trudeau government’s reaction thus far has been to try to take control of grocery prices and quality
through “price stability” diktats, codes of conduct, and threats of punitive taxation — and then try to lure international grocers to Canada for no apparent reason other than to be able to say it increased competition. But when the government centrally plans who will compete and how they must compete, that’s not real competition. That’s just preposterous.

National Post

Matthew Lau is a Toronto writer.

Exactly! Trudeau and his mafia drive up the cost of living, then blame someone else.

[Phil McCracken]

Originally Posted by Grizzly Adams1

The smart people in Sundre make a list, some even get together to bulk buy in Olds , save about 20 %. Lady at Wall Mart confided Sat. afternoon is Sundre shopper time. I know one family on a limited income, who moved to Rocky because there's more competition.

Been in Rocky for 20 years.

No Frills is significantly cheaper than Sobey's and Co-Op...

When we have a "planned" trip to Red Deer, we always stop at the Sylvan Lake Walmart on the way back. Pretty well have everything Red Deer Walmarts offer, but less busy.

And as many have said...tax, tax, and taxes on top of that. Thanx mongrel Libs!

And this:

https://atlantic.ctvnews.ca/more/pos...line-1.6857403

[Bigwoodsman]

Originally Posted by elkhunter11

Exactly! Trudeau and his mafia drive up the cost of living, then blame someone else.

I agree. Wondering if it shouldn’t be referred to as Jagmeet and his liberal mafia. Jagmeet is the God father of this mafia. He keeps it humming along.

BW

[NCC]

There is also the "First Annual Steal From Loblaws Day" campaign being promoted for May 12. I'd bet a cart full of groceries that the promoters of this campaign are Liberal and NDP supporters.

I think the Canadian economy's poor performance relative to the US has also been a big driver in making our groceries more expensive. The dairy cartel has certainly increased prices. Wheat, canola and oats were through the roof last year but prices as of a month ago were at about 60% of 2023 prices.

[creeky]

Originally Posted by dmcbride

Do you think gouging is having more of an effect then the other issues? The parliamentary committee studying this issue didn’t find much evidence of gouging. Would assume they had the power to look at everything and if they did find evidence we would surly hear about it.

No, though believe its bigger than most people are aware of.


Creeky....


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[creeky]

Originally Posted by Pathfinder76

Just go buy cheaper groceries somewhere else.

Do just that.


Creeky....


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[Grizzly Adams1]

Originally Posted by dmcbride

Look deeper,

https://www.thestar.com/business/thi...505c63bd9.html

“ For one, the price of butter is impacted by the federal Canadian Dairy Commission, which surveys farmers to assess the cost of producing butterfat and skim milk. It then informs provincial boards how much processors should pay. Because the demand for butter is on the rise, the commission has recommended significant increases for farmers, Charlebois said.

“Those increases at the farm level get compounded throughout the supply chain. If you’re a dairy processor, you end up paying way more, and grocers tend to adjust prices accordingly,” he said. “Twelve per cent at the farm gate can look more like a 25 to 30 per cent (increase) in retail.”


Now add the Carbon tax

I have yet to see a 10. lb. of butter, 6or 7 max and Costco considerably less.

[waldedw]

Blaming Loblaws for the high price of groceries is like blaming Clay at Prophet River for the high price of ammunition

[HyperMOA]

Originally Posted by creeky

No, though believe its bigger than most people are aware of.


Creeky....


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Go on; add some discussion of value then.

Hyper.....

[flyguyd]

Originally Posted by pikergolf

You drive a hummer?

Not sure ,however if you are driving 30 min one way to the city to buy the same things you can buy in town then i would suggest you are not saving money

[pikergolf]

Originally Posted by flyguyd

Not sure ,however if you are driving 30 min one way to the city to buy the same things you can buy in town then i would suggest you are not saving money

Pretty obvious that is not what I am talking about. Folks in small town knew what they were getting into before they moved there. Everyone living in a decent sized city has options, obviously the larger the city the more options you have. The point is, you have the reasonability to find the best prices, not a stores problem. Don't like the prices buy somewhere else.

[Grizzly Adams1]

Originally Posted by pikergolf

Pretty obvious that is not what I am talking about. Folks in small town knew what they were getting into before they moved there. Everyone living in a decent sized city has options, obviously the larger the city the more options you have. The point is, you have the reasonability to find the best prices, not a stores problem. Don't like the prices buy somewhere else.

I hate to pick on Sundre but it's a case of extreme and opportunistic gouging. Previously, the store IGA had somewhat higher prices than Olds, 20 minutes down the highway, acceptable and the owner was a local, well respected in the community. With the sale to Freson Brothers the situation changed over night, some prices like baked goods doubling. Many people can't afford to shop there anymore and some , like me, de facto boycott the place.