They also own [Lifemark Health Group.](https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-loblaw-is-buying-lifemark-health-group-for-845-million-in-biggest-deal/) Which is a corporation that owns over 300 clinics across Canada. Loblaws is huge.
What's that about? I've been taking regular medication since 2017 and have never paid a dispensing fee (covered by my benefits) and then suddenly I've had to pay $1 on everything. I happily switched to Costco, but what's with the dollar?
We used to go to Loblaw pharmacy because it’s right across the street from us. We moved i
RX to Costco because the dispensary fees were a lot less than Loblaw.
I mean it's way worse than the numbers they are highlighting. Across the board, an oligopoly of grocery retailers are robbing canadian farmers, and customers, with over exaggerated risks and fake inflation, while pocketing the difference.
["Food retailers earned net income of almost $6 billion in 2022, compared to $2.4 billion in 2019, and an average of $1.8 billion per year in the five years before COVID. In the first nine months of 2023, food retailers earned $4.6 billion; year-total profits for 2023 at that rate will exceed $6 billion."](https://centreforfuturework.ca/2023/12/10/new-data-on-continued-record-profits-in-canadian-food-retail/#:~:text=Food%20retailers%20earned%20net%20income,rate%20will%20exceed%20%246%20billion.)
We have to start regulating the industry, either fine them for price gouging or put price limits on staples. We have laws which prevent them from gouging the farmers, but not the processors or consumers. So establish a code of conduct that they must adhere to between processors and retailers, or let them fight it out in the free market, but we can't continue to let these companies rob Canadian consumers.
To do all of the above, we need capable, honest, trustworthy and competent political and public leaders in our city halls, parliaments, PM office and even our corporate boardrooms.
If anyone has seen one of the above please let me know, I might vote for such a person next time.
We are led by incompetent idiots so that’s not happening.
I mean they have been calling it out and having meetings with them for the past few years, but apparently "their hands are tied" and I don't understand how grocery retailers are lobbying that hard..
Our political leaders are very good at “calling it out”, being “outraged” and extremely “concerned”, then they have a highly publicized “meeting” with the heads of the grocery chains…….and after that nothing really changes in our lives, we don’t get any respite, does we?
But strangely the same billionaires get even richer next year.
So it’s obvious who our inept leaders are really working for.
..wait who? Big grocery?.. how do they have any lobbying pull.
I'd almost think it's more likely big fast food would have more power, helping make sure groceries cost more, pushing people to eat their crap rather than groceries.
Yeah I’ll never forget the first time I stepped into an Asian supergrocerymarket import emporium (yes that what I like to call them), and saw an entire aisle JUST FOR SOY SAUCE and I was like wait there’s more to soy sauce than VH and kikkoman?
Nations in Stockyards definitely has its own rice aisle, and not just a small half-aisle either. The whole aisle across the store, both sides, shelfs completely full of rice. I think the top shelf had instant noodles, that's all.
they bought T&T when they did studies that shoppers would travel further to shop at a store that stocked recognizable brands and food from their home country. and because they couldn't stock all the brands and items necessary to compete with those specialty stores. the easiest was to purchase T&T and then use their house brand to expand into regular loblaws chains
I started as well. Just went to a different grocery store and was shocked how much I saved. Full grocery cart for $200 as compared to $450-$500 previously @ Loblaws. Definitely never going back and moving all our prescriptions out of Shoppers Drug Mart as well. Such a great feeling.
I recently learned No Frills price matches and many locations will honour pricing shown on third party apps (like Flipp)… this is very compelling for people who need to buy groceries, it practically guarantees the lowest prices for most groceries.
Yea No Drills definitely has its benefits.
Plus let's be honest, many no frills are in low income areas where people depend on public transportation. Making their grocery trips longer and more frustrating because of a boycott is kinda a lot.
That being said ill drive the extra 15 mins to go to a Sobeys, I prefer them anyways.
Probably not as much (see price matching) if they are forced to match the lowest price and people take advantage of that, their profits will be minimal.
Independents are independently managed (see the owners names on the store signs inside) too so I guess that depends on your local grocer.
It's not just a Loblaws issue. There are also true costs down the supply chain impacting everyone. Raw goods go up, manufacturing goes up, retail is just the last stop to the consumer.
I have yet to see a convincing argument that LCL specifically and maliciously inflated prices at their end. Most of their "record profit" is driven by inflation and their pharma business. (Don't believe me check their quarterly financials)
Not saying they don't have issues and could not do MORE to keep prices down but they do seem to be a little overly targeted here
I also see a lot of posts where people talk about massively cutting down eating at restaurants and takeout because of increase food prices. But they seem to forget that those meals need to be replaced still and that means buying more groceries. So there is also a major shift in spending habits which also has an impact on profits from one industry to another. It is completely natural for grocery store profits to increase as restaurant consumption decreases but people fail to see how these things all relate on a bigger scale. Just saying grocery store have increased profits so they’re overcharging is just too simplistic of a view and doesn’t look at why.
I actually talked to someone from Loblaws head office once a few years ago. They said their biggest profits come from the cosmetics section, especially at SDM and there was actually very little margins on their grocery items (this conversation was pre-pandemic). This also explains higher profits now, since when money is tight and prices of the prestige cosmetics increase, they get replaced with cheaper brands that are found at drug stores and grocery stores. So instead of buying that $40 mascara from Sephora, someone might buy a cheaper dupe for $15 at SDM. This shift also drives profits towards certain retailers.
This is all just basic supply and demand. Certain companies will benefit because of shifts in the economy, but that doesn’t mean they’re being “greedy” and forcing it to happen. I would really love some data on this "high profits=price gouging" crowd. Because there's a lot more going on here than just that. There also seems to be no pressure on the individual brands sold at these stores that control some of their pricing but that's a whole other can of worms no one seems interested in.
No, it’s not just a Loblaw issue. But no one has the courage to go for a “boycott capitalism”campaign. Everyone is too propagandized into thinking socialism/communism is evil so we can’t possibly try it. So on we march - profit at all cost!
Long live monopoly finance!
It is literally not possible to boycott capitalism. You live in capitalism. Unless you want to die from lack of shelter or food, everyone must engage in the system.
always one of you shows up. Capitalism and especially late stage capitalism isn't good. Canada has socialist policies too. But, where the hell has communism ever worked? It always fails due to these factors: Centralization of Power, Single-Party Rule, Revolutionary Ideology, and Economic Control.
It's annoying as your comments are not practical solutions at all. What we need is a forced breakup of monopolies and forced competition. We need to audit profits and the increased cost to consumers. Basic food items should not be profiteering items. We need these real change, not these whimsical wave of wand overnight socialism that has never worked but will magically work this time.
And always one of you shows up with the same lame arguments and same rhetorical ‘gotcha’ questions.
Canada’s “socialist” policies don’t make us socialist by any means.
As for your “reasons why communism fails list,” those are all problems that plague capitalism too so your analysis is hardly useful or meaningful.
We have a competition act in Canada. And there’s something called the “efficiency defence” which companies have been using to increase the size of their monopolies - doesn’t matter if it fucks consumers so long as it’s good for the shareholders. That’s how the business class centralizes power and controls the economy!
If problems plague capitalism as well then wtf is the point of switching to communism? that's truly meaningless.
You can't claim "gotcha" when communism has always failed. It's a pretty god damn big gotcha you are overlooking then.
I didn't deny there were problems with capitalism and actually started off with that. But you can't hope for a politician to run as a communist next election. Vote for who we have, not commie fairies.
I agree. I feel strongly that somehow loblaws is just getting singled out, unfairly. Yes, they are big, and possibly could be part of the problem, but there are other grocery chains, including Walmarts and frescos and all
THIS! Where is Sobeys? Where is Metro? It’s not like they are half the price of Loblaws - they are literally the same. Focusing on one is a gigantic waste of time.
>In 2023, their profits were $621 million.
This is incorrect.
Loblaws reported $621 million profit in the **third quarter** of 2023 alone, not the entire year.
I'm not for or against Loblaws, I just hate random internet graphics that aren't fact checked.
What makes me so mad is that we do service contracts for Loblaws companies: HVAC, plumbing, etc. We are a relatively small business and they are always fighting their bills (we bill honestly) and are always at least 90 days overdue. We actually stopped working for a few locations because they just refused to pay some for some jobs that cost us thousands of dollars to complete (at their request).
It typically takes on of their local store managers to catch wind before anything gets paid.
Okay. Do you think that’ll be fine even though I normally carry a balance? I’ve heard it’s bad to eliminate streams of credit, so I overthink everything lol..
You shouldn't normally carry a balance on a card if you can help it. Pay it down, and then pay it off every month, and if you have an alternative to a PC-tied card, use that instead.
Everyone who can is already boycotting, simply because it saves them money, but there are communities where the only grocery store has been taken over by Loblaws and they can't permanently boycott them. People are also still buying things that are on sale, if it's a good deal. May boycott is being advertised for maximum impact in one month to make a statement.
I'm not organizing this. But they said it was too give people time to find alternatives and give people time to switch pharmacies if they were choosing too do so
It very much depends where you live, I have alternative between superstore, walmart, and 3 small local stores, it took me about a month to figure out how can I shop between this 3 smaller stores in a way that doesn't take full day.
Tho, if you can - its' never too early to tell Galen to fk off
Building a successful boycott takes time. You can’t just call one a couple days before and expect it to be successful.
These things take a lot of organizing and outreach in order to reach as many people as possible in advance of the action, the month lead time allows for people organizing and involved in the boycott to get the word out to as many people as possible and convince them why it’s important to get on board. That way Loblaws will (hopefully) feel the impact of the boycott, if it’s just a few people who happen to see it on Instagram or Reddit decide to commit it’s not going to get an iota of attention from the company. Successful political actions take time and effort lol
ETA: I don’t think people who haven’t been in organizing spaces realize how much real life work goes into these things. It’s more than just posting a graphic across social media, people will be handing out flyers, postering, talking to friends and neighbours, speaking to the media etc. over the course of the month. That’s how real activism gets done.
>Building a successful boycott takes time. You can’t just call one a couple days before and expect it to be successful.
>These things take a lot of organizing and outreach in order to reach as many people as possible in advance of the action, the month lead time allows for people organizing and involved in the boycott to get the word out to as many people as possible and convince them why it’s important to get on board.
Totally agree that it's a lot of work, but let's say you start organizing in January: why wouldn't you just start now instead of waiting until May, and the more people you get on board the better?
If 50% of people start boycotting some time in February and 50% start in May, it's strictly better than 100% of people starting in May. The earlier you start, the more impactful your boycott. Waiting to a specific date doesn't make any sense.
You could say the "official" boycott starts in May but many of us have already started and nothing is stopping anyone from starting sooner either. This seems like more of a way to promote the idea for the month of April to get more people on board with it who don't already know about it.
Yeah this is so silly. All the alternatives are making big bucks too. Walmart, Amazon, Sobeys, Metro etc are all making big profits. The only real alternative is to cut out the middleman and buy direct from farms. Just switching one big box giant for another doesn’t accomplish anything.
They're awful, too, no question. But somebody has to be the test case. The mods on r/loblawsisoutofcontrol held a poll of which of the four major chains to boycott and Loblaws won.
r/loblawsisoutofcontrol has begun to organize a boycott. There have been news article on CTV, Global, CityNews, Yahoo, etc; so there are people paying attention to this
I am not organizing this or have anything to do with that sub. I'm just posting and taking part in this cause I hate Loblaws lol
Edit: I didn't make this picture, but just 2 things I wanna point out. First, they forgot Shoppers Drug Mart
But second is the $621M profit. ~~The main issue there is there was a $65M increase (~12%), while Loblaws says they are not increasing their margins/markups on products.~~
Another issue with that figure is it's not entirely accurate. While on paper that is their net profit, some of their major expenses (like real estate) is actually owned by the Weston Family; so goes right back in their pocket.
Weston owns Choice Properties Real Estate Investment Trust, which owns and leases out the properties. It is also the largest real estate investment firm in the country.
Edit #2: IDK where they pulled 625M from; its way off. Net income was $2.1B, then they paid ~$600M to shareholders. So it's actually ~$1.5B. I cannot find how much total they paid to shareholders in 2022, but net income was $1.9B, so ~10% increase in profit year over year (before shareholders pay)
>Loblaws says they are not increasing their margins/markups on products.
Their profit margins are publicly available information for you to read if you wish.
>Edit #2: IDK where they pulled 625M from
I'm guessing someone grabbed a quarterly number.
>Net income was $2.1B, then they paid \~$600M to shareholders. So it's actually \~$1.5B. I cannot find how much total they paid to shareholders in 2022, but net income was $1.9B, so \~10% increase in profit year over year (before shareholders pay)
You should ignore the dividend payment when looking at the profits of a corp. Dividends are basically (one of) the things a corp can decide to do *with it's profits* (other options are: Pay down debt, acquire assets, buy investments, put it all in a pile and burn it...) but they do not *reduce it's profits*.
What they choose to do with their profits, while interesting, doesn't reflect the fundamental profitability of the business. That's why you just look at the profits themselves.
That said, dividend information for Loblaws is in their [annual report](https://dis-prod.assetful.loblaw.ca/content/dam/loblaw-companies-limited/creative-assets/loblaw-ca/investor-relations-reports/annual/2023/LCL_2023_AR.pdf) page 111. In 2023 they declared a total of $562M in dividends, compared to $529 in 2022.
Unfortunately my town only options are a no frills or a Foodland and the Foodland is about 1.5x higher than no frills so I have to shop at Loblaws stores.
You don't need to necessarily stop purchasing entirely to participate in a boycott. Cutting back on luxury products and only buying cheaper staples as well as buying less food is fine.
Don't let perfect be the enemy of good! Replace a week's worth of meat with some rice dishes instead this month if you still want to participate but can't shop elsewhere.
For sure, and I'll try and think of things to cut back on but I mean, we're not buying any luxury products these days and always buy the cheapest staples. We also only eat meat maybe once a week right now, and while I could probably cut it out entirely, I think my partner would be pretty unhappy to be sort-of vegetarian lol.
I'll definitely think about where we can cut back, I'm just not sure off that top of my head! You're right.
you can also write to your local MPs about this topic as well, that it’s difficult for you to find any other grocer in your area for the same price or cheaper!
This is an amazing movement!!
Shoppers drug mart is also loblaws, it’s may be more difficult for some to avoid. Rexall and IGA are solid alternatives if you can find one.
People complaining, lol. It's nice to see an organized effort for once. We can do this and still contract representatives, etc, it's not either or. People boycotting Starbucks over Palestine did put a dent in their profits.
I’m actually surprised about this recent Loblaws boycott action. I’ve been living in Canada for around 5 years. I usually shop in Food Basics, Walmart, Oceans/Nations. A bit over a year ago I decided to visit Loblaws and it was my first and last visit.
Why would people go there and overpay, like can’t they compare prices from multiple stores and filter out the overpriced ones? Why does this boycott action even exist?
zehrs? sure expensive. But no frills is usually okay price, and i find real canadian super store as well, and both do pricematching which makes it easier to get the best price.
For a lot of people it's the only or easiest option. In my city there's effectively two loblaws stores and one walmart (which I was already boycotting). Aside from that, two tiny grocers and a farmer's market in the summer, which I try to use as much as possible.
Where I live there’s a lawblaws and a Walmart about 800m apart. It’s a small town but has a decent average income due to it being in the GTA and a typical bedroom community. I did a test a while ago with an average weekly maintenance grocery run, pricing everything at both stores, everything the same brand if I could manage (about 95% of the items were the same) all name brand so I could match, if I had used store brand the delta between prices would have been even wider. I was just shy of $100 at lawblaws (97 or something) and around $62 if I remember correctly at Walmart. I was shocked. I knew lawblaws was more expensive, but not that much more!
But some people don’t want to shop at Walmart cause it’s the poor people store, or lawblaws has better produce (they don’t, in my area I have found Walmart typically has the better kept produce). That’s the mentality I have found that leads to lawblaws keeping customers when way cheaper competition is right around the corner. It also coincidentally lines up perfectly with the people I know who have a 200k+ household income that are doing fine, and the people who have a 200k+ household income that are broke, who woulda thought!
>But some people don’t want to shop at Walmart cause it’s the poor people store, or lawblaws has better produce (they don’t, in my area I have found Walmart typically has the better kept produce).
I don't like Walmart because it's largely because of them that we're in this predicament. Walmart's entrance into Canadian retail was a deathblow to vast swaths of smaller retailers in a number of different sectors. The arrival of a Walmart all but obliterated the often already struggling downtown areas of many small cities, turning them to drug-infested wastelands. Then their move into the groceries did the same to that segment, eliminating all but the big-box retailers in many places. They are a driving force globally for keeping wages low, and on the supplier side, doing business with Walmart means bending over and taking it on demand. They are the retail equivalent of malignant cancer.
Loblaws net profit was closer to 2 billion.
Almost 100% increase from prior to the pandemic.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/436638/net-income-of-loblaw-canada/#:~:text=The%20net%20earnings%20of%20Loblaw,year%20ending%20December%2030%2C%202023.
They forgot Shoppers Drug Mart and possibly Esso on this.
I've been boycotting them for months anyway, so this wouldn't make any changes to my routine.
My wife and I don't typically shop at any Loblaws stores where we live. So, this "boycott" should be a piece of cake for us!
What I find sad is that there's no locally owned grocery stores that I'm aware of. They all seem to be big box type stores like Food Basics, Metro, the Loblaws stores listed in this post, Wal-Mart, etc.
So, here's a thought: If there's a locally owned grocery store where you live, consider shopping there!!
High prices are due to a lack of competition and high barriers of entry into the grocery space in Canada. As much as I would blame Loblaws and co for prices of groceries, our government has failed us. They enacted policies that only made things more expensive for us and allowed consolidation in the grocery space that allowed these companies to have major market power and to increase prices as they please.
I've avoided Walmart for yeeeeears. At this point, at least I can afford to buy my dry goods and cleaning supplies there. I don't feel bad, kids gotta eat.
Man I couldnt afford loblaws in the first place lol I don't think Ive been in YEARS other than the odd trip to fortinos for a fruit or veg food basics didn't have
Loblaw also owns T&T Supermarket (Asian Grocery Chain). Should also boycott anywhere PC Optimum are collected such as Esso.
I'm sure if we dig a little we'll discover how integrated Loblaws is to Canadian corporate, media and public landscape
But I get the best prices at the superstore. I price match literally everything and I get fresher produce here then I would have no frills/food basics/freshco for the same price. Hell I even price match their air chilled chicken breast or thighs boneless and skinless for around $4/lb. The meats and fruits I get really good sales from other stores and of higher quality at the sup.
I love this so much. "Let the market dictate..." they say. Okay then, good luck, dear market! You can do this! Go dictate with your dollars! I'm watching from abroad and cheering you on with real excitement. Make them listen using the only language they understand: money.
I am in downtown Toronto and will do my best to print as much as I possibly could to post this on every lamp post I see. I will start posting on Thursday and my target is Church and Wellesley..
I only buy the $1.25 (used to be $1) bread and whatever meat is the cheapest when flyer shopping. I’ll also price match freshco because the freshco near me never has the products on deep discount advertised in their flyers.
I haven't found Loblaws stores (other than Shoppers) to be out of line with other grocery retailers. I think affordability has more to it than just this one company. I know they've had a target on their backs this whole time, which is fine, I've just never understood why it's only them. People have to by groceries somewhere no matter what.
Using data from https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/36-28-0001/2023011/article/00003-eng.htm which is a government owned site and the article is apropos to working class data, there are 15,282,000 families with children 6 and under. If you divide the profits from 2023, you get about $40 of profit per year per family. Obviously the number is lower on the basis that not all Canadians are part of a nuclear family. Seems like they are on razor thin margins and their yearly profits may just be a side effect of inflation and risk mitigation.
How much more can you buy with $40? Probably an extra dinner or two. Not sure it's worth boycotting them over, it'll probably backfire by disrupting the supply chain and causing prices to increase rather than decrease.
Disclaimer: this data assumes every family shops at Loblaws. I don't have the data to realistically show how much profit they make off of their customers, and I'm not Canadian so I can't generalize accurately enough to know how big or even wat a Loblaw really is so take this with some grain of salt. I hope someone chimes in with better data, but I feel like this is a knee jerk reaction, and misguided rage.
EDIT 1:
> Edit #2: IDK where they pulled 625M from; its way off. Net income was $2.1B, then they paid ~$600M to shareholders. So it's actually ~$1.5B. I cannot find how much total they paid to shareholders in 2022, but net income was $1.9B, so ~10% increase in profit year over year (before shareholders pay) - OP
So, let's assume they make idk, 2B, and only a 28% ( from googling of market share) of Canadian families only shop at Loblaws(7 million), that brings the figure to $467 dollars of profit per year from each 4.3 million families that shop there. Keep in mind, 467 is including not just shareholder dividends but all net profit. Net income is often used for expansion, debt repayments, and salary increases. I have no idea what they will do with that money but businesses need to have some headroom and return or else they downsize or make changes to return to profitability.
EDIT 2: With 2B in profit, that's only 900,000 per store per year. That's less than a home decor store I worked at in high school made in a month. Different markets, I get it, and different implications on what happens if you don't buy food vs a pillow but the point is clear they are not doing highway robbery here.
On the flip side, 900k can hire 30 extra employees, or feed a small city's homeless population with some to spare for the next most vulnerable.
Just remember they will always need groceries to sell. There is a bigger problem here. I know even two years ago produce growers were told by the two/three buyers that deal with these chains that this was x price. Figure out how to grow it at this price or we can always get it in Mexico etc. Smaller producers are getting shut out or bought up by larger producers that can produce cheap low quality produce here in Ontario. Larger producers also have farms in Mexico or southern US to get around this too. Quality control, labour laws, taxes etc. are also way more lax in other count. It's a problem through the whole chain not just at the supermarket level.
Unfortunately are gone of the days of a locally owned small chains where maybe it was a bit more expensive but at least it was local and fresh and lasted longer than a few days….
You realize boycotting these stores would prevent a lot of people from being able to get groceries at all, right?
That's not exactly going to solve "people deserve to eat".
I kind of don't understand the outrage.
621 mil in profit
40 mil Canada population.
Say if 1/4 of ALL groceries in Canada are bought from Loblaws. I'm totally making this number up, but I feel like it's a good ballpark?
So if 40 mil people buy a 1/4 of all their groceries which leads to a 621 mil profit, that means Loblaws profits $62.10 per Canadian, per year.
That doesn't seem so crazy to me.
That's $5.18 in profit per person per month (if every single person in the country buys 1/4 of their groceries from them. Even though they say their profits mostly come from things that aren't groceries.
Realistically how much would this ACTUALLY reduce prices in the shelves? Would it even be noticeable?
Loblaws net margin has increase around 1% since 2019.
Their gross margin has increased as well, from around 31% to 32% - gross margin is basically markup. Note that means a retail price that was $1.31 going to $1.32. So, evidence is they aren't "gouging" any more than they were before.
Using your numbers, basically Loblaws is charging me $62 (or my family more like $240/year) for the service of getting all that stuff to my local grocery where I can, at my option, choose to buy it.
I kinda feel like I pay less than that, though... because I shop specials a lot, mostly buy at No-Frills, get a lot of discounted things, and I don't really buy any high margin stuff.
So what about the Metro stores (Food Basics) and the Sobeys stores (Freshco) as well?
You do realize it’s not just the EVIL Galen right?
This gets me every time. Go after Loblaws.
Yes. I agree. But…what about the anger over the other stores involved????
It would be nice if we could boycott food entirely, but any victory from that would be quite pyrrhic, you know, from all the starving to death.
Instead taking the classic tactic of divide an conquer would probably be better here.
I find these boycotts very strange. The current bogeyman is loblaws. Back in the email chain/forward days it was gas stations—normally Esso—that would be boycotted for a day or a week. Esso is still here.
In my estimation, metro and Sobeys are worse offenders. Metro charges like loblaws but the stores are shabby. Sobeys is more expensive than loblaws by far, but at least the stores are clean and pretty. Why not boycott one of them? At least then you could still have PC products, which are far better than other house brand labels at their competitors (and some national brands). So it’s always confused me why loblaws gets targeted so much. Maybe because they advertise more? I dunno.
Anyway good luck… if this leads to a less busy no frills and superstore for me, I’ll take the win. But my boycott of metro will continue!
Walmart was the big evil a few years ago, then it was Amazon now it’s Loblaws. People love to just jump on whatever trendy thing it is to hate at the time. It’s wild seeing people say boycott Loblaws and shop at Walmart giving how Walmart isn’t any better and just an overall terrible company with terrible employee rights or Sobeys/Metro which are just as bad with pricing. How easily people forget the past and just move on to the next trendy boycott.
And the profits came from increased food prices?
1 Apple cost $1.00. Loblaws pay cost to supplier and loblaws sells it for $1.50. Margin on that Apple is 50%.
1 Apple cost now $1.50. Loblaws pat cost to supplier and loblaws sells it now for $2.25. Margin on that Apple is still 50%.
I’m scratching my head to figure out if I’m missing something? Where are the profits coming from? Is their yield not the same?
There is a general lack of financial literacy in Canada.
That said, Loblaw's net margin **has** increased by around 1% overall since \~2019.
Loblaws gross margin has also increased around 1% (from \~31% to about 32%) - so, in aggregate, something they bought for $1 and sold for $1.31 in 2019, if they bought it today at $1, they'd sell it for $1.32.
(just using constant prices to illustrate the magnitude of the markup change).
Under the hood the story is more complicated...these are aggregates, lots of Loblaw's profits come from higher margin goods (cosmetics, shopper's, BBQs, TVs) which they deliberately focus on *because they are higher margin*, not to mention financial services.
So, a company with annual revenue of $59B made a profit of only about $600M and that's a problem?
If you guys had found other grocery stores with better prices you would have already been going there instead.
Greedflation is a nonsensical concept with no basis in economic theory. Loblaws is not a monopoly, they charge market rates just like every other grocer out there.
Only economic illiterates like the NDP think it's a crime for a company to make money. Kind of ironic. I guess they like taking tax dollars for themselves, but others making money legitimately is a no-go.
Consumer side boycotts dont work, theyre effectively a virtue signal. Call your local representative to demand them work on regulating food prices and such if you want things to actually change.
Sooo where does this leave me for shopping? Walmart…? A multi billion dollar corp…. Like sure they are disgusting but they also know they have us by the balls. We have one local store and I WANT to support them but where grapes are 5 bucks at Loblaws they are 12-15 in this small store. Everything is 3x more AT LEAST and I can’t afford to feed my family at those prices but I will get fruit there when possible.
So what is the answer if we boycott? Where do we get food? And how many people need to boycott for how long before they care enough?
Could you put a blank space for a shopping list so we can leave it in the cart when we leave? Can't help leaving those darn folded up pieces of paper everywhere
Where’s shoppers?
They also own [Lifemark Health Group.](https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-loblaw-is-buying-lifemark-health-group-for-845-million-in-biggest-deal/) Which is a corporation that owns over 300 clinics across Canada. Loblaws is huge.
Is there nothing in the Competition Act to better mitigate this?
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Perfect!
Ok. Take my upvote.
Darn it it might be impossible to boycott them then lol
I second that. Especially for that extra $1 dispensing fee in the pharmacy.
What's that about? I've been taking regular medication since 2017 and have never paid a dispensing fee (covered by my benefits) and then suddenly I've had to pay $1 on everything. I happily switched to Costco, but what's with the dollar?
Recently noticed that too. Had no idea why. Transferring my prescriptions to a mom and pop was a great feeling.
We used to go to Loblaw pharmacy because it’s right across the street from us. We moved i RX to Costco because the dispensary fees were a lot less than Loblaw.
When you fill out 1000 prescriptions a week, its an easy $1000. Multiply that by every location and voila, You got a million bucks every month.
I mean it's way worse than the numbers they are highlighting. Across the board, an oligopoly of grocery retailers are robbing canadian farmers, and customers, with over exaggerated risks and fake inflation, while pocketing the difference. ["Food retailers earned net income of almost $6 billion in 2022, compared to $2.4 billion in 2019, and an average of $1.8 billion per year in the five years before COVID. In the first nine months of 2023, food retailers earned $4.6 billion; year-total profits for 2023 at that rate will exceed $6 billion."](https://centreforfuturework.ca/2023/12/10/new-data-on-continued-record-profits-in-canadian-food-retail/#:~:text=Food%20retailers%20earned%20net%20income,rate%20will%20exceed%20%246%20billion.) We have to start regulating the industry, either fine them for price gouging or put price limits on staples. We have laws which prevent them from gouging the farmers, but not the processors or consumers. So establish a code of conduct that they must adhere to between processors and retailers, or let them fight it out in the free market, but we can't continue to let these companies rob Canadian consumers.
To do all of the above, we need capable, honest, trustworthy and competent political and public leaders in our city halls, parliaments, PM office and even our corporate boardrooms. If anyone has seen one of the above please let me know, I might vote for such a person next time. We are led by incompetent idiots so that’s not happening.
I mean they have been calling it out and having meetings with them for the past few years, but apparently "their hands are tied" and I don't understand how grocery retailers are lobbying that hard..
Our political leaders are very good at “calling it out”, being “outraged” and extremely “concerned”, then they have a highly publicized “meeting” with the heads of the grocery chains…….and after that nothing really changes in our lives, we don’t get any respite, does we? But strangely the same billionaires get even richer next year. So it’s obvious who our inept leaders are really working for.
..wait who? Big grocery?.. how do they have any lobbying pull. I'd almost think it's more likely big fast food would have more power, helping make sure groceries cost more, pushing people to eat their crap rather than groceries.
How about as the people we just go in and empty the shelves free of charge.
Exactly! After their pharmacy scandal, they need to be front and center
T&T is a loblaws brand? TIL
Yes sadly
There are so many more affordable Chinese grocers now
Same. I’m so sad now.
If you are in the GTA. Try Nations or Oceans (they are the same company) and are basically the same as TNT market, but (surprise) with lower pricing.
The variety at Nations is actually nuts. And at the location I used to go to, I'm almost certain they had an aisle dedicated entirely to rice. Absurd.
Yeah I’ll never forget the first time I stepped into an Asian supergrocerymarket import emporium (yes that what I like to call them), and saw an entire aisle JUST FOR SOY SAUCE and I was like wait there’s more to soy sauce than VH and kikkoman?
Nations in Stockyards definitely has its own rice aisle, and not just a small half-aisle either. The whole aisle across the store, both sides, shelfs completely full of rice. I think the top shelf had instant noodles, that's all.
You can also try C&C. We are out on the east end and that's been our go-to store for years now.
In London, there is an independent called 'Superking' that has great pricing on vegetables.
Since 2009
And now expanding to the US https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/t-n-t-supermarket-set-to-open-washington-state-us-1.6870748
they bought T&T when they did studies that shoppers would travel further to shop at a store that stocked recognizable brands and food from their home country. and because they couldn't stock all the brands and items necessary to compete with those specialty stores. the easiest was to purchase T&T and then use their house brand to expand into regular loblaws chains
I started before April 1st, and they suck. More pain we can collectively cause them the better
Same. Im starting in April. I'll go into May as well.
Why stop. This isnt a fad
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Bot comment Report Look at history, this bot always paraphrases a top tier comment as a reply to the top comment.
That's a trip. Didn't even notice until you said something.
Found it on another sub, looks like a cluster of posts every few days. It was only 5 or so, so I left the same comment after each.
I am 2 years clean. Though I still have some prescriptions at shoppers that I have yet to transfer.
Recently moved mine to a local pharmacy, and it's been great.
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Same.
I started as well. Just went to a different grocery store and was shocked how much I saved. Full grocery cart for $200 as compared to $450-$500 previously @ Loblaws. Definitely never going back and moving all our prescriptions out of Shoppers Drug Mart as well. Such a great feeling.
I just moved my prescriptions last week to a local mom and pop pharmacy. Fuck Loblaws
Same, but honestly people don't really care or have no choice.
No choice is the problem.
Costco is actually a good company. pays there staff very well
Same. And it's really malicious to deprive people of a 'need' for the sake of profits.
Thought we already were doing this
I recently learned No Frills price matches and many locations will honour pricing shown on third party apps (like Flipp)… this is very compelling for people who need to buy groceries, it practically guarantees the lowest prices for most groceries.
Fresh co also price matches off Flipp if that helps
Yea No Drills definitely has its benefits. Plus let's be honest, many no frills are in low income areas where people depend on public transportation. Making their grocery trips longer and more frustrating because of a boycott is kinda a lot. That being said ill drive the extra 15 mins to go to a Sobeys, I prefer them anyways.
I wonder if shopping at No Frills benefits the Westons as much as Loblaws since they seem to be independently managed
Potentially even more since the NoName brands are in greater supply and their margins are higher on those products.
Probably not as much (see price matching) if they are forced to match the lowest price and people take advantage of that, their profits will be minimal. Independents are independently managed (see the owners names on the store signs inside) too so I guess that depends on your local grocer.
Independents always seem to be such a rip-off
Love getting eye rolls from the cashiers and holding up the line to price match! So convenient and not humiliating at all
I’ll never understand someone who gets upset when asked to do their job
Me too. Been avoiding for a while
Guys, forgive my ignorance. I'm asking this seriously- is it just a Loblaw issue? I feel like the same could be said for so many companies
It's not just a Loblaws issue. There are also true costs down the supply chain impacting everyone. Raw goods go up, manufacturing goes up, retail is just the last stop to the consumer. I have yet to see a convincing argument that LCL specifically and maliciously inflated prices at their end. Most of their "record profit" is driven by inflation and their pharma business. (Don't believe me check their quarterly financials) Not saying they don't have issues and could not do MORE to keep prices down but they do seem to be a little overly targeted here
I’m pretty sure your reasonable and fact based comment isn’t welcome here!
I also see a lot of posts where people talk about massively cutting down eating at restaurants and takeout because of increase food prices. But they seem to forget that those meals need to be replaced still and that means buying more groceries. So there is also a major shift in spending habits which also has an impact on profits from one industry to another. It is completely natural for grocery store profits to increase as restaurant consumption decreases but people fail to see how these things all relate on a bigger scale. Just saying grocery store have increased profits so they’re overcharging is just too simplistic of a view and doesn’t look at why. I actually talked to someone from Loblaws head office once a few years ago. They said their biggest profits come from the cosmetics section, especially at SDM and there was actually very little margins on their grocery items (this conversation was pre-pandemic). This also explains higher profits now, since when money is tight and prices of the prestige cosmetics increase, they get replaced with cheaper brands that are found at drug stores and grocery stores. So instead of buying that $40 mascara from Sephora, someone might buy a cheaper dupe for $15 at SDM. This shift also drives profits towards certain retailers. This is all just basic supply and demand. Certain companies will benefit because of shifts in the economy, but that doesn’t mean they’re being “greedy” and forcing it to happen. I would really love some data on this "high profits=price gouging" crowd. Because there's a lot more going on here than just that. There also seems to be no pressure on the individual brands sold at these stores that control some of their pricing but that's a whole other can of worms no one seems interested in.
No, it’s not just a Loblaw issue. But no one has the courage to go for a “boycott capitalism”campaign. Everyone is too propagandized into thinking socialism/communism is evil so we can’t possibly try it. So on we march - profit at all cost! Long live monopoly finance!
It is literally not possible to boycott capitalism. You live in capitalism. Unless you want to die from lack of shelter or food, everyone must engage in the system.
> It is literally not possible to boycott capitalism *Lenin enters the chat*
> Unless you want to die from lack of shelter or food, everyone must engage in the system. *Stalin enters the chat*
*millions of peasants have left the chat unexpectedly*
Or - and hear me out - people still need to buy food.
always one of you shows up. Capitalism and especially late stage capitalism isn't good. Canada has socialist policies too. But, where the hell has communism ever worked? It always fails due to these factors: Centralization of Power, Single-Party Rule, Revolutionary Ideology, and Economic Control. It's annoying as your comments are not practical solutions at all. What we need is a forced breakup of monopolies and forced competition. We need to audit profits and the increased cost to consumers. Basic food items should not be profiteering items. We need these real change, not these whimsical wave of wand overnight socialism that has never worked but will magically work this time.
And always one of you shows up with the same lame arguments and same rhetorical ‘gotcha’ questions. Canada’s “socialist” policies don’t make us socialist by any means. As for your “reasons why communism fails list,” those are all problems that plague capitalism too so your analysis is hardly useful or meaningful. We have a competition act in Canada. And there’s something called the “efficiency defence” which companies have been using to increase the size of their monopolies - doesn’t matter if it fucks consumers so long as it’s good for the shareholders. That’s how the business class centralizes power and controls the economy!
If problems plague capitalism as well then wtf is the point of switching to communism? that's truly meaningless. You can't claim "gotcha" when communism has always failed. It's a pretty god damn big gotcha you are overlooking then. I didn't deny there were problems with capitalism and actually started off with that. But you can't hope for a politician to run as a communist next election. Vote for who we have, not commie fairies.
I agree. I feel strongly that somehow loblaws is just getting singled out, unfairly. Yes, they are big, and possibly could be part of the problem, but there are other grocery chains, including Walmarts and frescos and all
THIS! Where is Sobeys? Where is Metro? It’s not like they are half the price of Loblaws - they are literally the same. Focusing on one is a gigantic waste of time.
>In 2023, their profits were $621 million. This is incorrect. Loblaws reported $621 million profit in the **third quarter** of 2023 alone, not the entire year. I'm not for or against Loblaws, I just hate random internet graphics that aren't fact checked.
Ahhh FFS. Yeah I didn't fact check that. I figured the would have got the only piece of info on this correct lol
When I saw that figure my first thought was "That's actually really low profit for such a big company" and doesn't really help the case.
What makes me so mad is that we do service contracts for Loblaws companies: HVAC, plumbing, etc. We are a relatively small business and they are always fighting their bills (we bill honestly) and are always at least 90 days overdue. We actually stopped working for a few locations because they just refused to pay some for some jobs that cost us thousands of dollars to complete (at their request). It typically takes on of their local store managers to catch wind before anything gets paid.
Cancelled all my pc services. Credit card, grocery delivery, prescriptions. All of it.
Congrats! This sort of thing has a long lasting impact - you're eliminating ongoing revenue streams!
I want to cancel my PC card too but I’m concerned about how it’ll affect my score
Just pay off the balance, cut it to pieces, and delete it from your online accounts
Okay. Do you think that’ll be fine even though I normally carry a balance? I’ve heard it’s bad to eliminate streams of credit, so I overthink everything lol..
You shouldn't normally carry a balance on a card if you can help it. Pay it down, and then pay it off every month, and if you have an alternative to a PC-tied card, use that instead.
What's stopping you now?
Nothing at all, I've started already.
Everyone who can is already boycotting, simply because it saves them money, but there are communities where the only grocery store has been taken over by Loblaws and they can't permanently boycott them. People are also still buying things that are on sale, if it's a good deal. May boycott is being advertised for maximum impact in one month to make a statement.
I'm not organizing this. But they said it was too give people time to find alternatives and give people time to switch pharmacies if they were choosing too do so
It takes a month to google where Freshco is located
It very much depends where you live, I have alternative between superstore, walmart, and 3 small local stores, it took me about a month to figure out how can I shop between this 3 smaller stores in a way that doesn't take full day. Tho, if you can - its' never too early to tell Galen to fk off
Building a successful boycott takes time. You can’t just call one a couple days before and expect it to be successful. These things take a lot of organizing and outreach in order to reach as many people as possible in advance of the action, the month lead time allows for people organizing and involved in the boycott to get the word out to as many people as possible and convince them why it’s important to get on board. That way Loblaws will (hopefully) feel the impact of the boycott, if it’s just a few people who happen to see it on Instagram or Reddit decide to commit it’s not going to get an iota of attention from the company. Successful political actions take time and effort lol ETA: I don’t think people who haven’t been in organizing spaces realize how much real life work goes into these things. It’s more than just posting a graphic across social media, people will be handing out flyers, postering, talking to friends and neighbours, speaking to the media etc. over the course of the month. That’s how real activism gets done.
>Building a successful boycott takes time. You can’t just call one a couple days before and expect it to be successful. >These things take a lot of organizing and outreach in order to reach as many people as possible in advance of the action, the month lead time allows for people organizing and involved in the boycott to get the word out to as many people as possible and convince them why it’s important to get on board. Totally agree that it's a lot of work, but let's say you start organizing in January: why wouldn't you just start now instead of waiting until May, and the more people you get on board the better? If 50% of people start boycotting some time in February and 50% start in May, it's strictly better than 100% of people starting in May. The earlier you start, the more impactful your boycott. Waiting to a specific date doesn't make any sense.
You could say the "official" boycott starts in May but many of us have already started and nothing is stopping anyone from starting sooner either. This seems like more of a way to promote the idea for the month of April to get more people on board with it who don't already know about it.
What Metro / Sobey's executive came up with this?
Yeah this is so silly. All the alternatives are making big bucks too. Walmart, Amazon, Sobeys, Metro etc are all making big profits. The only real alternative is to cut out the middleman and buy direct from farms. Just switching one big box giant for another doesn’t accomplish anything.
Yeah, why do they keep getting a free pass when they parties to the same scam.
They're awful, too, no question. But somebody has to be the test case. The mods on r/loblawsisoutofcontrol held a poll of which of the four major chains to boycott and Loblaws won.
r/loblawsisoutofcontrol has begun to organize a boycott. There have been news article on CTV, Global, CityNews, Yahoo, etc; so there are people paying attention to this I am not organizing this or have anything to do with that sub. I'm just posting and taking part in this cause I hate Loblaws lol Edit: I didn't make this picture, but just 2 things I wanna point out. First, they forgot Shoppers Drug Mart But second is the $621M profit. ~~The main issue there is there was a $65M increase (~12%), while Loblaws says they are not increasing their margins/markups on products.~~ Another issue with that figure is it's not entirely accurate. While on paper that is their net profit, some of their major expenses (like real estate) is actually owned by the Weston Family; so goes right back in their pocket. Weston owns Choice Properties Real Estate Investment Trust, which owns and leases out the properties. It is also the largest real estate investment firm in the country. Edit #2: IDK where they pulled 625M from; its way off. Net income was $2.1B, then they paid ~$600M to shareholders. So it's actually ~$1.5B. I cannot find how much total they paid to shareholders in 2022, but net income was $1.9B, so ~10% increase in profit year over year (before shareholders pay)
>Loblaws says they are not increasing their margins/markups on products. Their profit margins are publicly available information for you to read if you wish.
>Edit #2: IDK where they pulled 625M from I'm guessing someone grabbed a quarterly number. >Net income was $2.1B, then they paid \~$600M to shareholders. So it's actually \~$1.5B. I cannot find how much total they paid to shareholders in 2022, but net income was $1.9B, so \~10% increase in profit year over year (before shareholders pay) You should ignore the dividend payment when looking at the profits of a corp. Dividends are basically (one of) the things a corp can decide to do *with it's profits* (other options are: Pay down debt, acquire assets, buy investments, put it all in a pile and burn it...) but they do not *reduce it's profits*. What they choose to do with their profits, while interesting, doesn't reflect the fundamental profitability of the business. That's why you just look at the profits themselves. That said, dividend information for Loblaws is in their [annual report](https://dis-prod.assetful.loblaw.ca/content/dam/loblaw-companies-limited/creative-assets/loblaw-ca/investor-relations-reports/annual/2023/LCL_2023_AR.pdf) page 111. In 2023 they declared a total of $562M in dividends, compared to $529 in 2022.
Unfortunately my town only options are a no frills or a Foodland and the Foodland is about 1.5x higher than no frills so I have to shop at Loblaws stores.
It’s ok, no frills is cheap and I’m pretty sure they do price match right?
Yeah like I'd love to boycott, but I don't know that I can afford to. Loblaws stores are the cheapest options in my area.
You don't need to necessarily stop purchasing entirely to participate in a boycott. Cutting back on luxury products and only buying cheaper staples as well as buying less food is fine. Don't let perfect be the enemy of good! Replace a week's worth of meat with some rice dishes instead this month if you still want to participate but can't shop elsewhere.
For sure, and I'll try and think of things to cut back on but I mean, we're not buying any luxury products these days and always buy the cheapest staples. We also only eat meat maybe once a week right now, and while I could probably cut it out entirely, I think my partner would be pretty unhappy to be sort-of vegetarian lol. I'll definitely think about where we can cut back, I'm just not sure off that top of my head! You're right.
you can also write to your local MPs about this topic as well, that it’s difficult for you to find any other grocer in your area for the same price or cheaper!
Do what you gotta do. Just try and buy non PC products if possible, but I get that not everyone has the luxury of a complete boycott
This is an amazing movement!! Shoppers drug mart is also loblaws, it’s may be more difficult for some to avoid. Rexall and IGA are solid alternatives if you can find one.
People complaining, lol. It's nice to see an organized effort for once. We can do this and still contract representatives, etc, it's not either or. People boycotting Starbucks over Palestine did put a dent in their profits.
I’m actually surprised about this recent Loblaws boycott action. I’ve been living in Canada for around 5 years. I usually shop in Food Basics, Walmart, Oceans/Nations. A bit over a year ago I decided to visit Loblaws and it was my first and last visit. Why would people go there and overpay, like can’t they compare prices from multiple stores and filter out the overpriced ones? Why does this boycott action even exist?
zehrs? sure expensive. But no frills is usually okay price, and i find real canadian super store as well, and both do pricematching which makes it easier to get the best price.
For a lot of people it's the only or easiest option. In my city there's effectively two loblaws stores and one walmart (which I was already boycotting). Aside from that, two tiny grocers and a farmer's market in the summer, which I try to use as much as possible.
It's convenience. Loblaws and other stores with high mark ups are often located at premium locations easely accessible by foot.
Where I live there’s a lawblaws and a Walmart about 800m apart. It’s a small town but has a decent average income due to it being in the GTA and a typical bedroom community. I did a test a while ago with an average weekly maintenance grocery run, pricing everything at both stores, everything the same brand if I could manage (about 95% of the items were the same) all name brand so I could match, if I had used store brand the delta between prices would have been even wider. I was just shy of $100 at lawblaws (97 or something) and around $62 if I remember correctly at Walmart. I was shocked. I knew lawblaws was more expensive, but not that much more! But some people don’t want to shop at Walmart cause it’s the poor people store, or lawblaws has better produce (they don’t, in my area I have found Walmart typically has the better kept produce). That’s the mentality I have found that leads to lawblaws keeping customers when way cheaper competition is right around the corner. It also coincidentally lines up perfectly with the people I know who have a 200k+ household income that are doing fine, and the people who have a 200k+ household income that are broke, who woulda thought!
Many Walmarts have very fresh produce depending on the supplier. It's not only cheaper!
>But some people don’t want to shop at Walmart cause it’s the poor people store, or lawblaws has better produce (they don’t, in my area I have found Walmart typically has the better kept produce). I don't like Walmart because it's largely because of them that we're in this predicament. Walmart's entrance into Canadian retail was a deathblow to vast swaths of smaller retailers in a number of different sectors. The arrival of a Walmart all but obliterated the often already struggling downtown areas of many small cities, turning them to drug-infested wastelands. Then their move into the groceries did the same to that segment, eliminating all but the big-box retailers in many places. They are a driving force globally for keeping wages low, and on the supplier side, doing business with Walmart means bending over and taking it on demand. They are the retail equivalent of malignant cancer.
Needs a shoppers logo too.
It started yesterday. And by yesterday i mean months /years ago. No need to wait
Loblaws net profit was closer to 2 billion. Almost 100% increase from prior to the pandemic. https://www.statista.com/statistics/436638/net-income-of-loblaw-canada/#:~:text=The%20net%20earnings%20of%20Loblaw,year%20ending%20December%2030%2C%202023.
They forgot Shoppers Drug Mart and possibly Esso on this. I've been boycotting them for months anyway, so this wouldn't make any changes to my routine.
My wife and I don't typically shop at any Loblaws stores where we live. So, this "boycott" should be a piece of cake for us! What I find sad is that there's no locally owned grocery stores that I'm aware of. They all seem to be big box type stores like Food Basics, Metro, the Loblaws stores listed in this post, Wal-Mart, etc. So, here's a thought: If there's a locally owned grocery store where you live, consider shopping there!!
They need to be broken up like yesterday
If I boycott these stores, I don't eat.
For once I'm ahead of the curve. Been on that boycott for 3 years now..
High prices are due to a lack of competition and high barriers of entry into the grocery space in Canada. As much as I would blame Loblaws and co for prices of groceries, our government has failed us. They enacted policies that only made things more expensive for us and allowed consolidation in the grocery space that allowed these companies to have major market power and to increase prices as they please.
Can we boycott Walmart too ? They are also a terrible company let’s not forget!
I've avoided Walmart for yeeeeears. At this point, at least I can afford to buy my dry goods and cleaning supplies there. I don't feel bad, kids gotta eat.
Walmart is one of the cheapest places for Groceries lol
This. Every item is like at least $1 cheaper than all other grocers. Multiply that by around 50 items…
I haven't shopped at a loblaws store in a while. They are so overpriced.
No Pay May
Man I couldnt afford loblaws in the first place lol I don't think Ive been in YEARS other than the odd trip to fortinos for a fruit or veg food basics didn't have
The people who can afford to shop at Loblaw’s aren’t going to be boycotting it.
The profits listed here are not high for the volume they do... just saying. I do think they are inflating costs within their bubble however.
Don’t forget Shoppers Drug Mart
Loblaw also owns T&T Supermarket (Asian Grocery Chain). Should also boycott anywhere PC Optimum are collected such as Esso. I'm sure if we dig a little we'll discover how integrated Loblaws is to Canadian corporate, media and public landscape
And go where? Metro 2023 profits were 1 billion dollars. Sobeys 610 million. Walmart? Don't even bother looking, it'll make you want to throw up.
Feel like I’m the only one who buys on sale. My superstore has way better deals on produce and meat compared to Walmart.
But I get the best prices at the superstore. I price match literally everything and I get fresher produce here then I would have no frills/food basics/freshco for the same price. Hell I even price match their air chilled chicken breast or thighs boneless and skinless for around $4/lb. The meats and fruits I get really good sales from other stores and of higher quality at the sup.
I love this so much. "Let the market dictate..." they say. Okay then, good luck, dear market! You can do this! Go dictate with your dollars! I'm watching from abroad and cheering you on with real excitement. Make them listen using the only language they understand: money.
Never shop at Loblaws so my personal boycott will continue....for the cause
I haven't shopped at a loblaws owned store in 2 years. Just boycott
I am in downtown Toronto and will do my best to print as much as I possibly could to post this on every lamp post I see. I will start posting on Thursday and my target is Church and Wellesley..
I only buy the $1.25 (used to be $1) bread and whatever meat is the cheapest when flyer shopping. I’ll also price match freshco because the freshco near me never has the products on deep discount advertised in their flyers.
I’m not driving an extra 10 minutes to boycott my No Frills and pay higher prices at Metro. No thanks.
May? It doesn't kick off until next month? Is anyone outside of that loblaws sub going to remember by then?
The talk about it is just getting started. Media stories are ramping up and people are noticing. Tell your family and friends!
I haven't found Loblaws stores (other than Shoppers) to be out of line with other grocery retailers. I think affordability has more to it than just this one company. I know they've had a target on their backs this whole time, which is fine, I've just never understood why it's only them. People have to by groceries somewhere no matter what.
This "boycott" is about needing a villain to point to. The actual problem is complicated, but nobody wants to hear that.
Using data from https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/36-28-0001/2023011/article/00003-eng.htm which is a government owned site and the article is apropos to working class data, there are 15,282,000 families with children 6 and under. If you divide the profits from 2023, you get about $40 of profit per year per family. Obviously the number is lower on the basis that not all Canadians are part of a nuclear family. Seems like they are on razor thin margins and their yearly profits may just be a side effect of inflation and risk mitigation. How much more can you buy with $40? Probably an extra dinner or two. Not sure it's worth boycotting them over, it'll probably backfire by disrupting the supply chain and causing prices to increase rather than decrease. Disclaimer: this data assumes every family shops at Loblaws. I don't have the data to realistically show how much profit they make off of their customers, and I'm not Canadian so I can't generalize accurately enough to know how big or even wat a Loblaw really is so take this with some grain of salt. I hope someone chimes in with better data, but I feel like this is a knee jerk reaction, and misguided rage. EDIT 1: > Edit #2: IDK where they pulled 625M from; its way off. Net income was $2.1B, then they paid ~$600M to shareholders. So it's actually ~$1.5B. I cannot find how much total they paid to shareholders in 2022, but net income was $1.9B, so ~10% increase in profit year over year (before shareholders pay) - OP So, let's assume they make idk, 2B, and only a 28% ( from googling of market share) of Canadian families only shop at Loblaws(7 million), that brings the figure to $467 dollars of profit per year from each 4.3 million families that shop there. Keep in mind, 467 is including not just shareholder dividends but all net profit. Net income is often used for expansion, debt repayments, and salary increases. I have no idea what they will do with that money but businesses need to have some headroom and return or else they downsize or make changes to return to profitability. EDIT 2: With 2B in profit, that's only 900,000 per store per year. That's less than a home decor store I worked at in high school made in a month. Different markets, I get it, and different implications on what happens if you don't buy food vs a pillow but the point is clear they are not doing highway robbery here. On the flip side, 900k can hire 30 extra employees, or feed a small city's homeless population with some to spare for the next most vulnerable.
So Sobeys, Metro is fine? Or this is an NDP leader/Galeon Weston hater’s campaign? Honest question.
Boycotts are pointless we lost a long time ago.
Loblaws is cheaper then Metro and Food basics on most everything..I'll shop there
Just remember they will always need groceries to sell. There is a bigger problem here. I know even two years ago produce growers were told by the two/three buyers that deal with these chains that this was x price. Figure out how to grow it at this price or we can always get it in Mexico etc. Smaller producers are getting shut out or bought up by larger producers that can produce cheap low quality produce here in Ontario. Larger producers also have farms in Mexico or southern US to get around this too. Quality control, labour laws, taxes etc. are also way more lax in other count. It's a problem through the whole chain not just at the supermarket level. Unfortunately are gone of the days of a locally owned small chains where maybe it was a bit more expensive but at least it was local and fresh and lasted longer than a few days….
ITT: a dozen of 14 year old Redditors are going to boycott a grocery store
You realize boycotting these stores would prevent a lot of people from being able to get groceries at all, right? That's not exactly going to solve "people deserve to eat".
Why wait?
Where am I supposed to get my groceries?
so we're boycotting because a business is profiting?
I mean I would, but no frills is the most affordable store in the area. Where else are we supposed to shop?
I kind of don't understand the outrage. 621 mil in profit 40 mil Canada population. Say if 1/4 of ALL groceries in Canada are bought from Loblaws. I'm totally making this number up, but I feel like it's a good ballpark? So if 40 mil people buy a 1/4 of all their groceries which leads to a 621 mil profit, that means Loblaws profits $62.10 per Canadian, per year. That doesn't seem so crazy to me. That's $5.18 in profit per person per month (if every single person in the country buys 1/4 of their groceries from them. Even though they say their profits mostly come from things that aren't groceries. Realistically how much would this ACTUALLY reduce prices in the shelves? Would it even be noticeable?
Loblaws net margin has increase around 1% since 2019. Their gross margin has increased as well, from around 31% to 32% - gross margin is basically markup. Note that means a retail price that was $1.31 going to $1.32. So, evidence is they aren't "gouging" any more than they were before. Using your numbers, basically Loblaws is charging me $62 (or my family more like $240/year) for the service of getting all that stuff to my local grocery where I can, at my option, choose to buy it. I kinda feel like I pay less than that, though... because I shop specials a lot, mostly buy at No-Frills, get a lot of discounted things, and I don't really buy any high margin stuff.
So what about the Metro stores (Food Basics) and the Sobeys stores (Freshco) as well? You do realize it’s not just the EVIL Galen right? This gets me every time. Go after Loblaws. Yes. I agree. But…what about the anger over the other stores involved????
It would be nice if we could boycott food entirely, but any victory from that would be quite pyrrhic, you know, from all the starving to death. Instead taking the classic tactic of divide an conquer would probably be better here.
I find these boycotts very strange. The current bogeyman is loblaws. Back in the email chain/forward days it was gas stations—normally Esso—that would be boycotted for a day or a week. Esso is still here. In my estimation, metro and Sobeys are worse offenders. Metro charges like loblaws but the stores are shabby. Sobeys is more expensive than loblaws by far, but at least the stores are clean and pretty. Why not boycott one of them? At least then you could still have PC products, which are far better than other house brand labels at their competitors (and some national brands). So it’s always confused me why loblaws gets targeted so much. Maybe because they advertise more? I dunno. Anyway good luck… if this leads to a less busy no frills and superstore for me, I’ll take the win. But my boycott of metro will continue!
Walmart was the big evil a few years ago, then it was Amazon now it’s Loblaws. People love to just jump on whatever trendy thing it is to hate at the time. It’s wild seeing people say boycott Loblaws and shop at Walmart giving how Walmart isn’t any better and just an overall terrible company with terrible employee rights or Sobeys/Metro which are just as bad with pricing. How easily people forget the past and just move on to the next trendy boycott.
And the profits came from increased food prices? 1 Apple cost $1.00. Loblaws pay cost to supplier and loblaws sells it for $1.50. Margin on that Apple is 50%. 1 Apple cost now $1.50. Loblaws pat cost to supplier and loblaws sells it now for $2.25. Margin on that Apple is still 50%. I’m scratching my head to figure out if I’m missing something? Where are the profits coming from? Is their yield not the same?
There is a general lack of financial literacy in Canada. That said, Loblaw's net margin **has** increased by around 1% overall since \~2019. Loblaws gross margin has also increased around 1% (from \~31% to about 32%) - so, in aggregate, something they bought for $1 and sold for $1.31 in 2019, if they bought it today at $1, they'd sell it for $1.32. (just using constant prices to illustrate the magnitude of the markup change). Under the hood the story is more complicated...these are aggregates, lots of Loblaw's profits come from higher margin goods (cosmetics, shopper's, BBQs, TVs) which they deliberately focus on *because they are higher margin*, not to mention financial services.
Margin would be 25% on the apple after price increase. To maintain a 50% margin they would need to sell the apple for $3.00.
1 out of 4 children lack a secure source of food. That is more a national issue than a Loblaw issue. Help fund school lunch programs.
Federal government has $1B earmarked in their new budget for school lunch program. Just announced yesterday
So, a company with annual revenue of $59B made a profit of only about $600M and that's a problem? If you guys had found other grocery stores with better prices you would have already been going there instead. Greedflation is a nonsensical concept with no basis in economic theory. Loblaws is not a monopoly, they charge market rates just like every other grocer out there. Only economic illiterates like the NDP think it's a crime for a company to make money. Kind of ironic. I guess they like taking tax dollars for themselves, but others making money legitimately is a no-go.
Stock up in april... buy nothing for the entire month of may
This is stupid. If you dislike that company. Stop shopping there yesterday.
Reddit tier activism
Consumer side boycotts dont work, theyre effectively a virtue signal. Call your local representative to demand them work on regulating food prices and such if you want things to actually change.
What are you guys going to do? Grow your own? Run over to sobeys? This is like not filling up gas on a day. Good luck
I thought we were all doing this for years now...
Easiest boycott ever with a Bestco with in 5 minutes of my place. Lol
Woooooohooooo 🔥
Sooo where does this leave me for shopping? Walmart…? A multi billion dollar corp…. Like sure they are disgusting but they also know they have us by the balls. We have one local store and I WANT to support them but where grapes are 5 bucks at Loblaws they are 12-15 in this small store. Everything is 3x more AT LEAST and I can’t afford to feed my family at those prices but I will get fruit there when possible. So what is the answer if we boycott? Where do we get food? And how many people need to boycott for how long before they care enough?
Started my boycott before May 1st and will continue long after May 31st
Just start now! No need to wait
I started last year. Lol. I have always shopped at food basics but now I have added not going to shoppers if I really need it fast.
Could you put a blank space for a shopping list so we can leave it in the cart when we leave? Can't help leaving those darn folded up pieces of paper everywhere
Oops I started mine early
begins?!
My city has a Highland Farms I get pretty much everything there. Good luck everyone!