Loblaw boycott catches international media attention, price comparisons show Canadians spend more on groceries

News of the ongoing Loblaw boycott is making international headlines and raising questions over whether non-domestic competitors could open stores in Canada.

A BBC article juxtaposing the prices of everyday items at UK based supermarket Tesco, Loblaw and Walmart in the U.S., found Canada’s grocery giant to be the most costly.

According to BBC data, a whole chicken at Tesco costs £3.22, which is $5.63CAD. At Loblaw, a whole chicken costs $11.59CAD.

Initially planned for May, but set to continue indefinitely, shoppers across the country, who are fed up with Loblaw’s exorbitant prices, have been choosing to shop elsewhere. 

READ MORE: Some Canadians are planning to boycott Loblaw in May, and that includes blacklisting much more than just grocery stores

The sub reddit, ‘r/loblawsisoutofcontrol,’ is responsible for organizing the boycott, and was started by fed up customer, Emily Johnson last year. It has 88,000 members as of publication.

Loblaw is the most prominent supermarket chain in the country with 2,500 stores countrywide, and is now infamous for its extremely high food prices and enormous profits.

At the end of last quarter, it reported revenues of $13.58 billion, an increase of $586 million, or 4.5 per cent from the previous year.

Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland has been calling for competition in the country’s grocery sector since last year. 

“We need to bring more competition into the Canadian economy, particularly in the grocery sector,” she said at a press conference in Quebec in November.

According to a list published by The Wall Street Journal in April, the Trudeau government is looking to procure the services of the following foreign retailers: 

• Les Mousquetaires – France
• Aldi, Lidl, Edeka Group, and Rewe Group – Germany
• X5 Retail Group – Netherlands
• Reitangruppen – Norway
• Jerónimo Martins – Portugal
• Distribuidora Internacional de Alimentación, and Mercadona – Spain
• BIM Birlesik Magazalar – Turkey
• Holding – U.S. 

Loblaw has been at the centre of the grocery affordability crisis for sometime now with accusations of advertising items weighing more than they do, being the subject of a musical parody, and having to fend off a movement encouraging people to steal from its stores.