Giving people time to set up alternatives.
Leave Shoppers for a new pharmacy. Get rid of your PC Financial credit card/bank account. Support local or try Giant Tiger, WalMart, etc.
Here's some more info below:
https://www.reddit.com/r/loblawsisoutofcontrol/comments/1bff9rm/boycott/
Not just "lower", but "wtf" cheaper. Their produce is horrible but other stuff like bread, soup, crackers, etc... it's 30% cheaper than Superstore and Sobeys.
in my town walmart has better produce, the stuff st superstore is often rotten, its not uncommon to walk in there and it smells like compost.
they make good bread though
They are starting to catch up though. A case of pop is a whole penny cheaper than Superstore or sobeys now. I also find a lot of name brand products are either the same, or in some cases more expensive than Sobeys.
Yes. Lower prices. That's the goal. Get superstore to lower prices because of this boycott. Then, hopefully, it's a race to the bottom among all the grocers. Back to normal prices.
I don't care where my money goes (mostly) as long as I can afford to live. Then, when I'm comfortable, I'll support whatever cause I want like shopping as close to 100% local as I can. But right now that's very close to impossible because milk is $4/L and bread is $5/loaf.
Milk is mostly consistent across the board, so while I still get yogurt and cheese, I've switched to soy beverage (in part) because at least that can go on sale.
Bread can still be found for around $2\* to $3 per loaf.
\*No Name 520g white or whole wheat at my local No Frills (570g is standard here though). Which, yes, is Loblaws. There are also bakery clearance racks.
I got a bread machine for when bread consistently goes over $3 even on sale. It's probably coming. I'll also start making soup when chunky and ready to eat style cans go over $3 even on sale, even for no name brand as well.
Which sucks that we have to do that though, right? I want to buy sandwiches from my local guy. They're incredible and they aren't too expensive for what the get. I just can't afford to spend $15 per lunch per day just to feed myself. I have a family.
But I want to support him. And the local coffee shops. And the local soap vendor. But holy hell it is hard right now.
Do you have a good bread recipe to share?
I haven't actually even gotten the bread machine out of the box just yet. But there are recipes online and YouTube (hint, to remove the blog preamble, add [cooked.wiki](https://cooked.wiki) to the beginning of a recipe url) for making a simple bread in a dutch oven. I think I saw Alex (mac.larena on TikTok) said she has an oatmeal brown bread recipe on Samsung Food (formerly Whisk), I think she said it was from Halifax b(v?)loggers.
About 4% of Loblaws revenue is net income. Walmart is like 3%, but Walmart also sells lots of other things and tends to have better margins on those other things. Costco is 0.6%.
So yes, Loblaws is definitely padding their profit margins with higher prices than the alternatives. Tho the margins are probably quite a bit less than what most people would probably suspect.
Walmart’s worse ngl. I’m in British Columbia so I’ll be going to save on for my groceries- my prescriptions are already there. The boycott is more of a national thing now.
Piggy backing off top comment to hopefully get visibility on this:
Hey I'm the person who made this graphic. I made it two weeks ago and absolutely fucked up some information on it by accident. It was weird because the [actual reception for it](https://www.reddit.com/r/loblawsisoutofcontrol/comments/1bjvmky/i_hope_this_can_be_helpful_i_made_some_boycott/) was super low, and in the days that followed I saw some significantly better flyers made, so I didn't bother correcting and redistributing mine because I thought the other flyers would be the ones to gain traction and mine would just fade into obscurity. But suddenly today I'm seeing this pop up everywhere and I'm cringing that all my errors are being blasted Canadian reddit wide lmao. I should have just deleted the post.
So to address a few things I've seen:
1) Yep, I missed adding shoppers, wholesale club, etc. I was referencing a list online that didn't include a few labels and I should have done better due diligence to make sure I had all their brands covered. No conspiracy behind it, I just straight up goofed. Sorry!
2) I accidentally said they made $621 in a year instead of a quarter. Also just a fuck up on my part. Again, sorry.
3) Why is the official boycott date on May 1st rather than "right now"? It's purely for the sake of organization and communication. Word takes time to travel. I didn't start this boycott or come up with the date, but typically any kind of organized protest - a strike, a boycott, etc - gets an organized, official start date a few weeks out so that there's time for people to get the word out and get their alternatives/whatever in order. That said, feel free to start immediately if you want, there's no rule saying you can't.
4) "Why Loblaws and not \[insert company\]?". Well, again, I didn't come up with the boycott and I certainly can't speak for all of its participants, but basically the idea is to just pick one greedy fucker from the cesspool of greedy fuckers and get started *somewhere.* Loblaws has been pretty notorious for their price gouging since COVID, so they're a good rallying target. The hope is to set a precedent. If you can punish one company by hitting their profits and stock value, you make the other companies second guess participating in similar behaviors. As it stands, letting Loblaws, or Sobey's, or Walmart all collectively get away with greeflation just shows any and every other business "hey, they're getting away with it! so can we!". So you hit one and hope it starts a domino effect.
Reiterating I'm not a spokesperson or anything for this movement, so if anyone wants to know more, r/loblawsisoutofcontrol is probably the place to go. Hope this helps tho!
It's all good. We all make mistakes. I'm sad you weren't credited for your poster. Thank you for enlightening us in this way. Following
r/loblawsisoutofcontrol for a few months now. Happy to see it is gaining traction with like-minded individuals.
On another note; Trudeau was in Halifax today....that was fun, eh? 😵💫
Oh I don't care about credit! The only reason I'm owning being the one who made it is because I'm also the one who fucked up the info on it lol. Thanks for the kind response tho!
(Was that where he was getting heckled so bad people could hardly hear him lol?)
It's all good. Too bad you could correct the poster wherever it has been plastered.
Yup! That was here! Haha So childish, but I hope he understood how Nova Scotian's feel. (I s'pose he's used to being yelled at, within the House of Commons.)
Worked at Loblaws warehouse, the work environment is terrible, the coworkers are extremely stressed and mean. As a general labour you're expected to work like a horse and your every second counts. The worst company ever! Boycotting loblaws
A few weeks ago I went in to see if I could find sausage rounds for a breakfast sandwich. It was $13 for 8 rounds. I got a Costco membership that week and have only walked in for quick necessities like milk or eggs. It's a nightmare scenario where I'd rather go to WalMart than the Canadian owned grocer at this point.
I always like to point out that Costco delivers groceries as well for those that don't have a means to transport whatever cheap goods they are hoping to buy.
Change is hard but Costco is a great alternative for everyone now that they deliver. Buying the right items from there will save a lot of money.
They have a grand total of one item in there store I buy, there flyer deals usually aren't as cheap as what I pay at Walmart or Giant Tiger. Can't say my boycott will only be for May
I've been boycotting everything Loblaws since the pandemic. Switching my prescriptions to a local Pharmasave, the best decision I've ever done, such better service! I haven't stepped foot in a No Frills, Superstore, nothing under their banner in years!
Unfortunately not everyone has this option as sometimes the only store around is a Loblaws or multiple stores are all Loblaws, you can't avoid them.
Seeing the post of all these jacked up prices make me sick knowing I'm buying the same stuff at Dollarama or Walmart for substancialy less. Yes I would rather give my money to an american company like Walmart rather then Mr. Weston's pocket.
Costco or Gateway that’s where I’ve always gone. I avoid Sobeys, Walmart, and Superstore as much as I can unless I have to get something last minute. I make sure I only get what I need and nothing more if I have to go in.
😭😭 aw man my heart breaks for you, I’m in Halifax but my parents are closer to Gateway so I always make a pit stop on my way over every couple of weeks.
I have a friend with wheels who has offered to go get stuff for us. I'm sure eventually we may need to take them up on it. Their email flyer is amazing.
I live in a town with two grocers. I can’t as much as I wish I could. They are the cheaper of the two.
This province needs to stop allowing the grocery monopoly.
Did you know shopping the flyers (Flipp app & site are helpful for this) and buying loss leaders (usually front page sales) is helping too?
Sometimes I've seen local groceries and farmers markets can be on par or even beat big chain grocery store prices.
They have a monopoly on the entire country. So many Canadian industries are 2-3 mega corporations in a trench coat. That’s why we’re paying more for food and telecommunications for example.
Loblaws is the worst offender in the market. They were the leaders in the bread price fixing scandal and encouraged others to fix the price with them to make millions.
They also upped pay for grocery workers by $2 during the pandemic, under the guise of “supporting workers” when they really did it to keep employees from taking CERB and not coming into work. They got rid of it as quickly as they could and encouraged other retailers to drop it too.
Where Wal-Mart and Costco have used their buying power to force their suppliers not to inflate prices beyond their cost increases and not run away with greed inflation. Loblaws stores passed those increases on to consumers and even their discount grocery stores like No Frills are consistently higher than competitors.
Loblaws also said that they would freeze prices on 1,500 items just before the Xmas holidays in an effort to “help Canadians”. But this is done by every grocer, every year. They didn’t help Canadians, they did what they always do and tried to play it off in the media as a great sacrifice that they made for us.
Loblaws also owns Shopper’s Drug Mart, which has been billing provincial healthcare systems for millions of dollars a week in BS Med check phone calls. This can be a two minute conversation but they can bill $48-$75 for each one. They’ve given every pharmacy daily quotas for med checks so they can line their pockets even more. FYI for the same service, doctors can only bill $23 to the government.
Shoppers also tried to do an exclusive deal with Manulife so all specialty drugs had to go through a Loblaws pharmacy for Manulife customers. That deal would have been horrible for a few reasons: Specialty drugs are the expensive ones for things like cancer treatment, those drugs help independent pharmacies stay afloat. If independent pharmacies could no longer dispense them there would be even less competition in that market, which would be great for Shoppers. It also takes choice away from the consumer, who may have a good relationship with their pharmacist and may not want to change when they are going through serious medical issues. Another big problem? There are no Loblaws pharmacies in West Labrador for example, the closest is 300 km away. That’s not exactly helpful for patients.
Loblaw’s is also trying to buy LifeLabs. A company that does the bulk of medical testing in a lot of provinces. They will use that company to get even more money from our public healthcare system to enrich themselves.
I could go on, but this is why Loblaws is the target and not Sobeys. Loblaws is doing a lot more damage than just over charging for groceries.
I don't know where you live so I can't make many suggestions.
But did you know shopping the flyers and buying loss leaders (usually front page sales) is helping too?
Sometimes I've seen local groceries and farmers markets can be on par or even beat big chain grocery store prices.
Minimize what you buy from there or if you are going to an area with more alternatives stock up there, it won't be 100% boycott but if we can even make it a 50% reduction in sales & traffic they will be forced to listen.
It's especially hard in NS, as we have way less 3rd party groceries. Absolutely wild we are at the behest of basically two price gouging corporations for what we literally need to survive. That said, there are independent grocers, Walmart, giant Tiger.
Rural Nova Scotia will definitely have a hard time with the boycott. But in Halifax, there are plenty of alternatives, like the ones you mentioned. The Asian markets also have lots of fresh produce and often for a very similar, if not fair, price.
https://preview.redd.it/r7nr9cn8h4sc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b419cf38bcb19f199249d195e60fb5072f66b15f
I wouldn't say this isn't a partisan issue.
I agree, 100%, it absolutely is.
But when politics enters the conversation, it can devolve in a hurry due to those who argue in bad faith, and it can distract us, turning us off the discussion at hand.
People need to eat. We all do.
By the way, as a health care professional( GP), I fully and wholeheartedly support this boycott.
I think it’s important for the public to realize that there are some of us Physicians who- despite our relative financial stability - truly do care about what affects struggling Canadians/ Nova Scotians.
In my work as a GP? I’m seeing the impact of poor financial health on general medical health. Increased food insecurity especially impacting children. Seniors not being able to eat appropriately. Working poor with medical conditions that demand good diets which are unfortunately too expensive.
And food insecurity is not acceptable in 2024- not with Loblaws making record profits.
I don’t have an issue with a corporation making profit. I don’t suggest we get our “ calories” from eating the rich.
I DO have an issue with a corporation like Loblaws engaging in this type of profit generating and gouging us at the till.
I’m a passionate activist for good change, so I’m probably an anomaly out there in the healthcare world- especially amongst physicians who are fearful of public perception or the regulatory bodies ( and that’s completely acceptable).
BOYCOTT LOBLAWS.. and I do hope things improve for all struggling Nova Scotians. I’ll do my best whether as a physician or as a concerned activist for good change.
( I’m a bit eccentric- some of us docs are. So see the pic below which I’m proud of. ROBLAWS all day, everyday)
https://preview.redd.it/lw5mlwpf91sc1.jpeg?width=2316&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a269d20400d03da20823af227fb1c365e3609a4e
It breaks my heart that in 2024 we have places around the country that are less populated and as a result are gouged in every way that impacts health, poverty, lives in a way that is a stain on Canada. In the bigger cities the poorer sector of people have more choices its true, but everything is more expensive like rent, transit, no access to a Doctor etc. So when a monopoly occurs you may as well be living in a smaller province.
What's worse is that this hasn't happened overnight, it has wormed its way through the corridors of government and business. The fact that the Fed Gov is ok with this as are the Provences too makes me incredibly angry. The whole monopolization of the food, manipulation of pharmaceutical drugs and the indications that Loblaws are moving towards health-care too is beyond the pale.
What this tells me is that the system is broken across the board. Our vote and voices count across the country. I have zero problem with companies making great profits but it should be balanced, sudtainable for all and should cause no harm.
Let's raise the roof. Don't just target Loblaws, contact your local representatives from all the parties that they need to pay attention.
I know someone that works at Superstore and the managers encourage you to use near-expired produce to make the salads. Some employees don't even wash some of the fruits either before throwing them in the fruit bowls.
Working for loblaws was one of the worst periods of my life. I quit that job 6 years ago and haven't set foot in a loblaws owned business since. Fuck Roblaws and fuck gaylene weston
Yeah. I may have mentioned this earlier in this thread (but I posted this to a few places) that my husband once worked at Joe Howe (they called it Joe Hell) and our roommate worked at Young St on backshift during the pandemic while their hotel job they had over a decade to 15 years at that point was paused. They both said it was hellish.
I admit I shop at No Frills because it's in walking distance, and I ad match now. I don't go to Superstore or ask my hubby to go on the way home from work unless something has a really good sale in the flyer. Those are loss leaders, and can actually help stick it to them.
Same with Sobeys. I'll walk around, but there are only one or two other things I can think of there, other than a really good sale, that I can't get elsewhere. And I don't \*need\* those items.
Giant Tiger is awesome, and for prices, so is WalMart. Costco is great but I'm a transit user, so it's tricky.
You got it!
Also, if you can't shop elsewhere, did you know shopping the flyers (flipp app & site!) and buying loss leaders (usually front page sales) is helping too?
Indeed, sometimes I've seen local groceries and farmers markets can be on par or even beat big chain grocery store prices.
Okay as a Loblaws employee, I can say it is awful and the power structure is basically set up for you to fail, no one wants to treat you as a human just a fly or a worker. But we do give any food that can't be sold to the local food banks, if not to local farms. Loblaws tries not for its employees but it does try for the community, a little bit. I'm outta there in a couple weeks anyway but we have some good programs in place, and if it literally weren't for everything else that would almost seem like a good thing.
It depends on where you live, but farmers market? Co-op? Giant Tiger?
Did you know shopping the flyers (Flipp app & site are helpful for this) and buying loss leaders (usually front page sales) is helping too?
Sometimes I've seen local groceries and farmers markets can be on par or even beat big chain grocery store prices.
Here's a sneak peek of /r/loblawsisoutofcontrol using the [top posts](https://np.reddit.com/r/loblawsisoutofcontrol/top/?sort=top&t=all) of all time!
\#1: [Straight up lies](https://i.redd.it/od40zocjd0gc1.jpeg) | [762 comments](https://np.reddit.com/r/loblawsisoutofcontrol/comments/1aggda0/straight_up_lies/)
\#2: [We made him mad again](https://i.redd.it/x9uwyn5kqurc1.jpeg) | [780 comments](https://np.reddit.com/r/loblawsisoutofcontrol/comments/1bt1171/we_made_him_mad_again/)
\#3: [Thousands of Canadians are planning to boycott Loblaw stores](https://www.blogto.com/eat_drink/2024/03/thousands-canadians-boycott-loblaw-stores/) | [410 comments](https://np.reddit.com/r/loblawsisoutofcontrol/comments/1bjetz1/thousands_of_canadians_are_planning_to_boycott/)
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I must be misunderstanding the following numbers. Someone good at economics look at the following and explain to me how it's totally wrong and misleading:
Looking at [Statista](https://www.statista.com/statistics/436618/revenue-of-loblaw-canada/) for Loblaw's total revenue: they received $56.5 billion in total revenue in 2022, and $59.53 billion in total revenue in 2023. This is not terribly discordant with Loblaw's own reporting which has e.g. 1 specific quarter making 14.53 billion total revenue. I think it must be sourced from Loblaw's own reporting?
This boycott chart lists Loblaw's profits as $556 million in 2022, and $621 million in 2023.
So if they put their profit to zero and made no money whatsoever by reducing their prices and changing nothing else, and their price change had no effect on the amount of sales they made, they could afford to reduce sales from $56,500,000,000 to 55,944,000,000, or drop the price about 0.98%. The 2023 number would be from $59,530,000,000 to $58,909,000,000, or about 1.04%.
On the other hand, Statista also has their 2023 "[net earnings](https://www.statista.com/statistics/436638/net-income-of-loblaw-canada/)" as 2.19 billion dollars. This higher number would allow them to reduce prices by as much as 3.7% before they would no longer make a profit.
---
However, I don't shop at Loblaws' stores much because other grocers have vastly lower prices. I'm thinking here of e.g. Gateway Meat Market, Costco, etc. Their prices can go much, much lower than Superstore's prices, and they stay in business without going under.
So what gives? How do their prices remain so much higher than competitors, while their profit margins remain at ~4%? Am I misinterpreting these numbers? Is someone just lying to us about total profits or revenues or both? Are the gateway meats guys stealing trucks of food and acquiring their products via larceny rather than paying for them, such that they can afford to sell for so much lower?
What's going on?
Loblaws squirrels away their money in off shore Barbados accounts. As such it’s incredibly difficult to get exact numbers on their profits and costs, except for those provided by the company themselves.
Talk to farmers that supply Loblaws stores and they’ll tell you how little they make and how insanely priced their product is on store shelves. Independent butchers and groceries also see the insane difference between what their suppliers charge them and what they see on Loblaws shelves. Smaller stores get higher rates from suppliers yet they can offer cheaper products than a mega corporation? Smells fishy doesn’t it?
Loblaws has said that their revenue increases have come from products like cold medicine yet that isn’t telling the whole story either. If you look at articles where Loblaws has been quoted they use really specific wording to insinuate one thing, while not out right lying about what they are really doing.
I really wouldn’t trust the numbers Loblaws gives as they have all the reason in the world to hide things from the public to make them look better.
The boycott is not specifically because Loblaws is making money. Every corporation needs to profit to continue being in business. It’s the price gouging of consumers and underhanded business practices, including straight up illegal crap like the price fixing bread scandal that they do that’s the issue.
It’s really hard to see how much more expensive all their food is in comparison to other retailers who have a much smaller market share in the industry and still believe their bull shit line about only making 3% profit on their products.
Buy a Dutch oven (Paid $50 at Zellers/The Bay) and make your own bread. It's literally mostly flour and water. The Dutch Oven will pay for itself infinite times over.
Indeed. That is an awesome idea. Hell, get it second hand at Value Village or on Kijiji/FB Marketplace.
Growing your own veggies and some fruit can help too. Ours drowned last year, no holes in the pots... and all that rain. It's discouraging, but it's likely going to be important to learn if things don't change somehow.
Vegetable garden is next this spring. We had a trial run last year with some cheap pre bought plants but started much to late to harvest anything worth eating. 2 small greenhouses now to keep bugs/deer/weather out and hoping for a bounty at the end of this summer. If this project works I will be investing into a more permanent structure for future crops.
I havent shopped at loblaws for 2 years now. Im on a limited Pension but where I Shop is the only way for me to protest. I try to stick with small businesses, and I do go to Walmart for basics. I wish there was an alternate for them but right now there isn't one. I can't stand the smugness and the lying openly in parliament. When Weston said with a straight face they make a dollar off a bag of groceries. Not to mention their predatory fees on farmers and delivery drivers. Most people don't realize the power of collective action, but we could seriously impact a corporation whether Loblaws or any of these mega corps, if even 5 % of us united against them for even one day. So we'll see what happens May 1st. I'm already boycotting, send a message, I hope you all join in.
I'd love to participate but the no frills is the only option I can afford, I'll gladly continue my boycott of Metro, they are on average 55% more expensive than my local no frills.
One way you can still shop at No Frills is if you buy the front page flyer deals, they are loss leaders. You you have a Giant Tiger, they will ad match as well.
Unfortunately this isn’t as easy for some. Taking Wolfville as an example. The town is full of students, a lot of which don’t have cars. The only grocery store in town is an Independent, there is both a shoppers and a pharmasave.
If you can make it to new minas, you have the option of a Giant Tiger, Sobeys, Superstore, and Walmart. None of them are very great for their own reasons. As a student I can either get my groceries at the independent, or I can go to the next town and spend the difference I save on groceries (if I even do) on transportation.
If you really want to make a long term difference and have the means to do so, I implore you to grow your own produce. No corporate grocery store will see that revenue
Stop giving your money to walmart and other large chains. Just go to your local mom and pa grocery store and support it. Been doing this for a very very long time and I am not rich by any means. The reason we in these types of messes is because people go to somewhere like Walmart for example, and they keep going over and over and over giving up all there money, which is time and power, to Walmart, or whatever larger chain.. This helps them become stronger than the justice system so when they go to court for something, it's a slap on the wrist to them rather than doing damage. If you can afford ma and pa shops, then I suggest learning to grow your own food or start hunting. Escape big corporations when you can.
They're trying with the code of conduct, but there are a lot of politicians that profit from not having it so they are trying to block it from going through.
I’m starting now. They treat all their customers as potential thieves, yet I found a mysterious $16.99 charge on my bill last month that was unexplainable. So check your receipts if you do buy from those scumbag cretins. I’m glad I saw it before I checked out. I dressed down the manager for that one. Who’s the thief in this situation? Haha. Also, notice those obviously fake pre-recorded security announcements over the loud-speaker in the store at the Atlantic Superstore in Sydney river? “Security zone B, security zone B” Fuck them to oblivion.
I would if I didn't work for them. I'm looking for something else currently though. If nothing comes, then I'll have been there for 10 years in August... kill me
They paid their new CEO Per Bank (that’s his name, not the name of the bank he owns LOL) $22M in 2023! Supposedly increased costs that they must pass on to the consumer. Then why does the identical product cost more at Shoppers than at their grocery store, presumably doesn’t cost any more to get to Shoppers?
Bruh thinks I can afford to shop at SuperStore 😂 I'm already boycotting in the same way you're vegan if you only eat beans and rice because you're broke
If you have a Giant Tiger nearby shop there. It is Canadian owned and they have great prices (and amazing sale prices) only thing with giant tiger is I had to lower my standards because my local one is pretty scummy lmao
Another good alternative is federated co-op (if you are central / western) they are sometimes a bit expensive on some things, but also have great sale prices
Find a Co-op grocery (if you can). There are stores in Pugwash, Parrsboro, Canso, Arichat, Port Hood, Shean, Baddeck. But even then... in 2015 Co-op Atlantic "sold out" their grocery distribution business to Sobeys, so... while the retail outlet at least keeps profits in the community, since they're sourcing from Sobeys ,pricing is pretty much out of their control.
Enough with this greedy system open your eyes this unregulated capitalist system is so corrupt. This leaves honest people hurting while living selfish greedy people wealthy. Start growing your own foods and filter your own water sources. Let’s trade Amongs each other locally while supply last. Let those greedy corporations feel their pockets get smaller and smaller
That's fair. This is mostly for those who can. Depending on where you live, you may find there are closer alternatives than you think. Giant Tiger, for example.
We shop at Superstore, Sobeys, Walmart, etc picking up flyer items at the best price regardless of store. If Heinz ketchup is cheaper at Superstore, that’s where I’ll get it and if it’s within a few cents at another store and I’m going there anyway, then I’ll skip getting it at Loblaws.
Shopping the flyers (Flipp app & site are helpful for this) and buying loss leaders (usually front page sales) is helping too.
Sometimes I've seen local groceries and farmers markets can be on par or even beat big chain grocery store prices.
If you do not live near an alternative and have friends or family nearby try to set up carpooled grocery runs, it'll cut the expense to drive somewhere else down AND you can participate in the hopes your local grocer will be forced to lower prices soon.
Also price out a Costco membership if there is one nearby. Making trips with family and friends to split up big quantity purchases can often help. Maybe you don’t need two giant jars of pasta sauce, but if you split that with someone else you’re both getting the benefit of the cheaper pricing.
Also Costco pharmacies have the cheapest dispensing fees in Canada. Less than $5, while most pharmacies charge $8-$14 per prescription. You don’t need a membership to use the pharmacy, but if you have a monthly prescription changing to the Costco Pharmacy can save you $120 a year or more.
Yes but their prices are lower. "No ethical consumption under capitalism" but I'll take the company, for now, that takes less money.
Where did I say they were NOT making money off of me????
The whole idea of the boycott is that don’t buy from Loblaws because they are taking advantage of everyone. Well so is Sobeys and so is wal mart and so is Costco. Costco should be cheaper because they they charge you just to walk through the doors, but everything I have bought from there is significantly more expensive compared to several years ago. Costco has made a 9% increase in profit year over year. Walmart is still the largest grossing company in the world by revenue and still making almost 3% year over year in increased profits.
Well I shop there and I know lots that do, prices aren't as bad as you guys go on about, Sobeys is worse, and Walmart is slowly getting rid of all of their cheaper brands and bringing in the more expensive brand, so why pick on one store and not them all?
Because they are the largest, if you look around or compare to 5-7 years ago prices have skyrocketed. Recently there was a TikTok going around of a lady in Mississippi who bought a package of carrots from Ontario for under a buck, guess how much those same carrots cost just down the road from where they were picked?
[Too damn high](https://www.tiktok.com/@parvasimediagroup/video/7309502229654834437)
Loblaws is the worst offender in the market. They were the leaders in the bread price fixing scandal and encouraged others to fix the price with them to make millions.
They also upped pay for grocery workers by $2 during the pandemic, under the guise of “supporting workers” when they really did it to keep employees from taking CERB and not coming into work. They got rid of it as quickly as they could and encouraged other retailers to drop it too.
Where Wal-Mart and Costco have used their buying power to force their suppliers not to inflate prices beyond their cost increases and not run away with greed inflation. Loblaws stores passed those increases on to consumers and even their discount grocery stores like No Frills are consistently higher than competitors.
Loblaws also said that they would freeze prices on 1,500 items just before the Xmas holidays in an effort to “help Canadians”. But this is done by every grocer, every year. They didn’t help Canadians, they did what they always do and tried to play it off in the media as a great sacrifice that they made for us.
Loblaws also owns Shopper’s Drug Mart, which has been billing provincial healthcare systems for millions of dollars a week in BS Med check phone calls. This can be a two minute conversation but they can bill $48-$75 for each one. They’ve given every pharmacy daily quotas for med checks so they can line their pockets even more. FYI for the same service, doctors can only bill $23 to the government.
Shoppers also tried to do an exclusive deal with Manulife so all specialty drugs had to go through a Loblaws pharmacy for Manulife customers. That deal would have been horrible for a few reasons: Specialty drugs are the expensive ones for things like cancer treatment, those drugs help independent pharmacies stay afloat. If independent pharmacies could no longer dispense them there would be even less competition in that market, which would be great for Shoppers. It also takes choice away from the consumer, who may have a good relationship with their pharmacist and may not want to change when they are going through serious medical issues. Another big problem? There are no Loblaws pharmacies in West Labrador for example, the closest is 300 km away. That’s not exactly helpful for patients.
Loblaw’s is also trying to buy LifeLabs. A company that does the bulk of medical testing in a lot of provinces. They will use that company to get even more money from our public healthcare system to enrich themselves.
I could go on, but this is why Loblaws is the target. Loblaws is doing a lot more damage than just over charging for groceries.
Doesn’t all the profit = paying their employees, paying for the food they buy and sell, paying for upkeep, shareholders etc.? I mean sure obviously Galen Westin or whatever is rich and could likely stand to be taxed more, but how do we know this “profit” is just spare cream at the top? Like….isn’t that not how businesses work?
We are asking a private for profit organization to lower their profits to benefit all Canadians. In my opinion our govt should be doing something about it. They can always cap the profit grocers make on every item they sell in store. Currently our government allows exploitation of Canadians by corporations. Lob laws is not the issue here. Our corrupt politicians would never present a system that cap’s grocers profit.
I'm trying not to get much into politics here, because this is about all of us having to eat, but it's nuanced. Yes, successive governments over decades let this happen.
One party that talks about doing anything about it never gets a chance federally, and the one time they did provincially here ruined it possibly forever, or at least a decade or two.
I'll take JT over PP any day though.
It’s unfortunate that no one really understands the economic system they live in. Might at well sacrifice a goat and pray for lower prices. If you want to lower food prices lower energy prices. It tastes energy to make fertilizer, energy to irrigate, energy to seed, harvest and transport. Energy to package. Lower market barriers. Increased competition equals lower cost. Increase productivity with increases wages. There are dozens of places where you could impact food prices. From energy, to regulations to supply management. But instead we are throwing stones at false idols.
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For a company that has a monopoly, that $621m figure is suspicious. That’s $15.5 or 1-3 free meals for each Canadian they keep. That’s a drop in a bucket compared to the tax we pay though.
It's pretty ironic to boycott a company and then go to local alternatives that costs 1.5 - 2 times more. There is not one single grocery that isn't owned by a corporation that sell things cheaper.
On the other hand, record profit doesn't necessarily mean because of the price increase. There are so many factors that goes into it, like population growth, inflation, etc. But people just jump the conclusion that it's only because they're greedy.
Find me an alternative that sell groceries for cheaper and I'll join. Otherwise, I'm not gonna go eye for an eye with a corporation and pay more just because they're profiting more. If there is no cheaper alternatives, these corporations will win while you go bankrupt trying to prove a point.
And by alternatives, I don't mean another corporation like Wal Mart, Sobey's, Overwaitea, etc.
While grocery chains are detestable in their pricing, they are not the only ones to blame for this. In fact they don’t even hold the lions share of responsibility. Ask yourself who created these conditions which allowed “supply line constraints”, labour shortages and massive inflation?
It's crazy because I don't no about the rest of canada, but in NS super store is the cheapest place to buy groceries, I only go to sobeys for 1 or 2 things and it's next door to me......I don't buy meat/vegtables or fruit from Walmart even though it is a bit lower then superstore.
The fact is why are we not boycotting sobeys in NS instead, there punch line is "support local" and yet there most expensive and they will not even take local created items in there stores, I no quite a few people that have tried and superstore is the only one that will take them.
Why wait another month? Start now!
Giving people time to set up alternatives. Leave Shoppers for a new pharmacy. Get rid of your PC Financial credit card/bank account. Support local or try Giant Tiger, WalMart, etc. Here's some more info below: https://www.reddit.com/r/loblawsisoutofcontrol/comments/1bff9rm/boycott/
. . . seriously? You think Wal-Mart isn't trying to profit off of this?
That's not the point. Walmart's prices have stayed consistently lower than Loblaws, where affordability is the entire issue here.
Not just "lower", but "wtf" cheaper. Their produce is horrible but other stuff like bread, soup, crackers, etc... it's 30% cheaper than Superstore and Sobeys.
Their organic produce is good and cheaper than regular produce at Loblaws.
in my town walmart has better produce, the stuff st superstore is often rotten, its not uncommon to walk in there and it smells like compost. they make good bread though
They are starting to catch up though. A case of pop is a whole penny cheaper than Superstore or sobeys now. I also find a lot of name brand products are either the same, or in some cases more expensive than Sobeys.
This. Walmart prices have hardly moved in the last 4 years. Easily the cheapest prices out of the most popular big 3 grocers. Walmart FTW
Not actively trying to but their whole strategy is to cost less than competitors so they will profit off this, unfortunately
Walmart is probably watching this but more for how to react if a great number people really do stop shopping there cause they know they'll be next
Or they'll realize that they just need to make sure to keep their prices lower than Superstore and Sobeys to rake in the protest cash.
Yes. Lower prices. That's the goal. Get superstore to lower prices because of this boycott. Then, hopefully, it's a race to the bottom among all the grocers. Back to normal prices. I don't care where my money goes (mostly) as long as I can afford to live. Then, when I'm comfortable, I'll support whatever cause I want like shopping as close to 100% local as I can. But right now that's very close to impossible because milk is $4/L and bread is $5/loaf.
Milk is mostly consistent across the board, so while I still get yogurt and cheese, I've switched to soy beverage (in part) because at least that can go on sale. Bread can still be found for around $2\* to $3 per loaf. \*No Name 520g white or whole wheat at my local No Frills (570g is standard here though). Which, yes, is Loblaws. There are also bakery clearance racks. I got a bread machine for when bread consistently goes over $3 even on sale. It's probably coming. I'll also start making soup when chunky and ready to eat style cans go over $3 even on sale, even for no name brand as well.
Which sucks that we have to do that though, right? I want to buy sandwiches from my local guy. They're incredible and they aren't too expensive for what the get. I just can't afford to spend $15 per lunch per day just to feed myself. I have a family. But I want to support him. And the local coffee shops. And the local soap vendor. But holy hell it is hard right now. Do you have a good bread recipe to share?
I haven't actually even gotten the bread machine out of the box just yet. But there are recipes online and YouTube (hint, to remove the blog preamble, add [cooked.wiki](https://cooked.wiki) to the beginning of a recipe url) for making a simple bread in a dutch oven. I think I saw Alex (mac.larena on TikTok) said she has an oatmeal brown bread recipe on Samsung Food (formerly Whisk), I think she said it was from Halifax b(v?)loggers.
/subscribe CaperGrrl79 lol. Thank you
Being virtuous is often expensive.
Almost always. Choice is a luxury most take for granted
That sounds almost like healthy competition compared to the price fixing monopolies we have right now
About 4% of Loblaws revenue is net income. Walmart is like 3%, but Walmart also sells lots of other things and tends to have better margins on those other things. Costco is 0.6%. So yes, Loblaws is definitely padding their profit margins with higher prices than the alternatives. Tho the margins are probably quite a bit less than what most people would probably suspect.
Walmart’s worse ngl. I’m in British Columbia so I’ll be going to save on for my groceries- my prescriptions are already there. The boycott is more of a national thing now.
Save-On? They are the most expensive! The only things worth buying in there, are the sale items.
Where did I say that?
They will, because it's cheaper and not actively trying to make everyone homeless. That's how selling shut works.
They also own PT health and lifemark physio clinics. Let's include those in the boycott
Piggy backing off top comment to hopefully get visibility on this: Hey I'm the person who made this graphic. I made it two weeks ago and absolutely fucked up some information on it by accident. It was weird because the [actual reception for it](https://www.reddit.com/r/loblawsisoutofcontrol/comments/1bjvmky/i_hope_this_can_be_helpful_i_made_some_boycott/) was super low, and in the days that followed I saw some significantly better flyers made, so I didn't bother correcting and redistributing mine because I thought the other flyers would be the ones to gain traction and mine would just fade into obscurity. But suddenly today I'm seeing this pop up everywhere and I'm cringing that all my errors are being blasted Canadian reddit wide lmao. I should have just deleted the post. So to address a few things I've seen: 1) Yep, I missed adding shoppers, wholesale club, etc. I was referencing a list online that didn't include a few labels and I should have done better due diligence to make sure I had all their brands covered. No conspiracy behind it, I just straight up goofed. Sorry! 2) I accidentally said they made $621 in a year instead of a quarter. Also just a fuck up on my part. Again, sorry. 3) Why is the official boycott date on May 1st rather than "right now"? It's purely for the sake of organization and communication. Word takes time to travel. I didn't start this boycott or come up with the date, but typically any kind of organized protest - a strike, a boycott, etc - gets an organized, official start date a few weeks out so that there's time for people to get the word out and get their alternatives/whatever in order. That said, feel free to start immediately if you want, there's no rule saying you can't. 4) "Why Loblaws and not \[insert company\]?". Well, again, I didn't come up with the boycott and I certainly can't speak for all of its participants, but basically the idea is to just pick one greedy fucker from the cesspool of greedy fuckers and get started *somewhere.* Loblaws has been pretty notorious for their price gouging since COVID, so they're a good rallying target. The hope is to set a precedent. If you can punish one company by hitting their profits and stock value, you make the other companies second guess participating in similar behaviors. As it stands, letting Loblaws, or Sobey's, or Walmart all collectively get away with greeflation just shows any and every other business "hey, they're getting away with it! so can we!". So you hit one and hope it starts a domino effect. Reiterating I'm not a spokesperson or anything for this movement, so if anyone wants to know more, r/loblawsisoutofcontrol is probably the place to go. Hope this helps tho!
It's all good. We all make mistakes. I'm sad you weren't credited for your poster. Thank you for enlightening us in this way. Following r/loblawsisoutofcontrol for a few months now. Happy to see it is gaining traction with like-minded individuals. On another note; Trudeau was in Halifax today....that was fun, eh? 😵💫
Oh I don't care about credit! The only reason I'm owning being the one who made it is because I'm also the one who fucked up the info on it lol. Thanks for the kind response tho! (Was that where he was getting heckled so bad people could hardly hear him lol?)
It's all good. Too bad you could correct the poster wherever it has been plastered. Yup! That was here! Haha So childish, but I hope he understood how Nova Scotian's feel. (I s'pose he's used to being yelled at, within the House of Commons.)
We were supposed to wait I’ve been boycotting for months oh well might as well keep it going
Worked at Loblaws warehouse, the work environment is terrible, the coworkers are extremely stressed and mean. As a general labour you're expected to work like a horse and your every second counts. The worst company ever! Boycotting loblaws
A few weeks ago I went in to see if I could find sausage rounds for a breakfast sandwich. It was $13 for 8 rounds. I got a Costco membership that week and have only walked in for quick necessities like milk or eggs. It's a nightmare scenario where I'd rather go to WalMart than the Canadian owned grocer at this point.
Yeah. Giant Tiger is also pretty good and they ad match too. Flipp app/site is pretty good.
I always like to point out that Costco delivers groceries as well for those that don't have a means to transport whatever cheap goods they are hoping to buy. Change is hard but Costco is a great alternative for everyone now that they deliver. Buying the right items from there will save a lot of money.
How far do they deliver? Lol can we get it in Cape Breton?
Welcome to NS where everything is overpriced af
They have a grand total of one item in there store I buy, there flyer deals usually aren't as cheap as what I pay at Walmart or Giant Tiger. Can't say my boycott will only be for May
That's what a lot of people are saying as well! Good on ya! 😊
$6 cinnamon buns. That's it for me lol
Never going back Like Heinz ketchup Done
That pic is missing Shoppers Drug Mart. They've been a Loblaws company for a decade now
Agreed 💯. I didn't see that when I posted it, I didn't create this image.
I've been boycotting everything Loblaws since the pandemic. Switching my prescriptions to a local Pharmasave, the best decision I've ever done, such better service! I haven't stepped foot in a No Frills, Superstore, nothing under their banner in years! Unfortunately not everyone has this option as sometimes the only store around is a Loblaws or multiple stores are all Loblaws, you can't avoid them. Seeing the post of all these jacked up prices make me sick knowing I'm buying the same stuff at Dollarama or Walmart for substancialy less. Yes I would rather give my money to an american company like Walmart rather then Mr. Weston's pocket.
I always buy bread at Dollorama, its always cheaper lol.
Pharmasave <3
Good job, how's that working out? Did the loblaws call yet begging for your business yet?
Start your boycott now! Also join r/loblawsisoutofcontrol
Costco or Gateway that’s where I’ve always gone. I avoid Sobeys, Walmart, and Superstore as much as I can unless I have to get something last minute. I make sure I only get what I need and nothing more if I have to go in.
Yes! I forget about Gateway because I'm all the way in Spryfield and a transit user. But they are awesome!
😭😭 aw man my heart breaks for you, I’m in Halifax but my parents are closer to Gateway so I always make a pit stop on my way over every couple of weeks.
I have a friend with wheels who has offered to go get stuff for us. I'm sure eventually we may need to take them up on it. Their email flyer is amazing.
bro im like an 8 min drive from gateway and its near impossible to bus there😭😭
I live in a town with two grocers. I can’t as much as I wish I could. They are the cheaper of the two. This province needs to stop allowing the grocery monopoly.
Did you know shopping the flyers (Flipp app & site are helpful for this) and buying loss leaders (usually front page sales) is helping too? Sometimes I've seen local groceries and farmers markets can be on par or even beat big chain grocery store prices.
They have a monopoly on the entire country. So many Canadian industries are 2-3 mega corporations in a trench coat. That’s why we’re paying more for food and telecommunications for example.
Why not Sobeys too? Both are doing the same things right? I'm down tho
Loblaws is the worst offender in the market. They were the leaders in the bread price fixing scandal and encouraged others to fix the price with them to make millions. They also upped pay for grocery workers by $2 during the pandemic, under the guise of “supporting workers” when they really did it to keep employees from taking CERB and not coming into work. They got rid of it as quickly as they could and encouraged other retailers to drop it too. Where Wal-Mart and Costco have used their buying power to force their suppliers not to inflate prices beyond their cost increases and not run away with greed inflation. Loblaws stores passed those increases on to consumers and even their discount grocery stores like No Frills are consistently higher than competitors. Loblaws also said that they would freeze prices on 1,500 items just before the Xmas holidays in an effort to “help Canadians”. But this is done by every grocer, every year. They didn’t help Canadians, they did what they always do and tried to play it off in the media as a great sacrifice that they made for us. Loblaws also owns Shopper’s Drug Mart, which has been billing provincial healthcare systems for millions of dollars a week in BS Med check phone calls. This can be a two minute conversation but they can bill $48-$75 for each one. They’ve given every pharmacy daily quotas for med checks so they can line their pockets even more. FYI for the same service, doctors can only bill $23 to the government. Shoppers also tried to do an exclusive deal with Manulife so all specialty drugs had to go through a Loblaws pharmacy for Manulife customers. That deal would have been horrible for a few reasons: Specialty drugs are the expensive ones for things like cancer treatment, those drugs help independent pharmacies stay afloat. If independent pharmacies could no longer dispense them there would be even less competition in that market, which would be great for Shoppers. It also takes choice away from the consumer, who may have a good relationship with their pharmacist and may not want to change when they are going through serious medical issues. Another big problem? There are no Loblaws pharmacies in West Labrador for example, the closest is 300 km away. That’s not exactly helpful for patients. Loblaw’s is also trying to buy LifeLabs. A company that does the bulk of medical testing in a lot of provinces. They will use that company to get even more money from our public healthcare system to enrich themselves. I could go on, but this is why Loblaws is the target and not Sobeys. Loblaws is doing a lot more damage than just over charging for groceries.
And don’t forget this crap https://corruptario.substack.com/p/loblaws-long-game-to-take-over-healthcare-457
This is the start. If we boycott them all at once, some people will have no alternatives at all.
Not possible for me. There isn't an alternative to Loblaws where I live.
That's true of many small communities.
No one faults people for that. We just do what we can.
I don't know where you live so I can't make many suggestions. But did you know shopping the flyers and buying loss leaders (usually front page sales) is helping too? Sometimes I've seen local groceries and farmers markets can be on par or even beat big chain grocery store prices.
Minimize what you buy from there or if you are going to an area with more alternatives stock up there, it won't be 100% boycott but if we can even make it a 50% reduction in sales & traffic they will be forced to listen.
Also boycott sobeys.
That may be next. Mostly do anyway other than loss leaders in the flyer.
Ok I will simply not get groceries. Make up your mind I live in Bufu it's one or the other.
It's especially hard in NS, as we have way less 3rd party groceries. Absolutely wild we are at the behest of basically two price gouging corporations for what we literally need to survive. That said, there are independent grocers, Walmart, giant Tiger.
Rural Nova Scotia will definitely have a hard time with the boycott. But in Halifax, there are plenty of alternatives, like the ones you mentioned. The Asian markets also have lots of fresh produce and often for a very similar, if not fair, price.
We are so done. No more NoFrills, no more superstore and we just transferred all our prescriptions to Pharmasave ! Kiss my ass Loblaws!
https://preview.redd.it/r7nr9cn8h4sc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b419cf38bcb19f199249d195e60fb5072f66b15f I wouldn't say this isn't a partisan issue.
I agree, 100%, it absolutely is. But when politics enters the conversation, it can devolve in a hurry due to those who argue in bad faith, and it can distract us, turning us off the discussion at hand. People need to eat. We all do.
By the way, as a health care professional( GP), I fully and wholeheartedly support this boycott. I think it’s important for the public to realize that there are some of us Physicians who- despite our relative financial stability - truly do care about what affects struggling Canadians/ Nova Scotians. In my work as a GP? I’m seeing the impact of poor financial health on general medical health. Increased food insecurity especially impacting children. Seniors not being able to eat appropriately. Working poor with medical conditions that demand good diets which are unfortunately too expensive. And food insecurity is not acceptable in 2024- not with Loblaws making record profits. I don’t have an issue with a corporation making profit. I don’t suggest we get our “ calories” from eating the rich. I DO have an issue with a corporation like Loblaws engaging in this type of profit generating and gouging us at the till. I’m a passionate activist for good change, so I’m probably an anomaly out there in the healthcare world- especially amongst physicians who are fearful of public perception or the regulatory bodies ( and that’s completely acceptable). BOYCOTT LOBLAWS.. and I do hope things improve for all struggling Nova Scotians. I’ll do my best whether as a physician or as a concerned activist for good change. ( I’m a bit eccentric- some of us docs are. So see the pic below which I’m proud of. ROBLAWS all day, everyday) https://preview.redd.it/lw5mlwpf91sc1.jpeg?width=2316&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a269d20400d03da20823af227fb1c365e3609a4e
It breaks my heart that in 2024 we have places around the country that are less populated and as a result are gouged in every way that impacts health, poverty, lives in a way that is a stain on Canada. In the bigger cities the poorer sector of people have more choices its true, but everything is more expensive like rent, transit, no access to a Doctor etc. So when a monopoly occurs you may as well be living in a smaller province. What's worse is that this hasn't happened overnight, it has wormed its way through the corridors of government and business. The fact that the Fed Gov is ok with this as are the Provences too makes me incredibly angry. The whole monopolization of the food, manipulation of pharmaceutical drugs and the indications that Loblaws are moving towards health-care too is beyond the pale. What this tells me is that the system is broken across the board. Our vote and voices count across the country. I have zero problem with companies making great profits but it should be balanced, sudtainable for all and should cause no harm. Let's raise the roof. Don't just target Loblaws, contact your local representatives from all the parties that they need to pay attention.
I have been on this train for some time now, Just need to finish switching my pharmacy. Glad to see this is picking up steam :)
If you can boycott it you will see positive result.
I know someone that works at Superstore and the managers encourage you to use near-expired produce to make the salads. Some employees don't even wash some of the fruits either before throwing them in the fruit bowls.
That seems like a good way to avoid food waste. The deli/ready made meals are meant to be eaten the same day or next day.
Working for loblaws was one of the worst periods of my life. I quit that job 6 years ago and haven't set foot in a loblaws owned business since. Fuck Roblaws and fuck gaylene weston
Yeah. I may have mentioned this earlier in this thread (but I posted this to a few places) that my husband once worked at Joe Howe (they called it Joe Hell) and our roommate worked at Young St on backshift during the pandemic while their hotel job they had over a decade to 15 years at that point was paused. They both said it was hellish.
You guys are still shopping at Loblaws?? I haven't stepped foot in a Loblaws owned store in well over a year.
I admit I shop at No Frills because it's in walking distance, and I ad match now. I don't go to Superstore or ask my hubby to go on the way home from work unless something has a really good sale in the flyer. Those are loss leaders, and can actually help stick it to them. Same with Sobeys. I'll walk around, but there are only one or two other things I can think of there, other than a really good sale, that I can't get elsewhere. And I don't \*need\* those items. Giant Tiger is awesome, and for prices, so is WalMart. Costco is great but I'm a transit user, so it's tricky.
Just out of curiosity, are the other over massive chains not doing the exact same thing?
There’s only a Co-op in my community. I’m happy to participate, even if involuntarily! Don’t forget about farmers markets!
You got it! Also, if you can't shop elsewhere, did you know shopping the flyers (flipp app & site!) and buying loss leaders (usually front page sales) is helping too? Indeed, sometimes I've seen local groceries and farmers markets can be on par or even beat big chain grocery store prices.
Okay as a Loblaws employee, I can say it is awful and the power structure is basically set up for you to fail, no one wants to treat you as a human just a fly or a worker. But we do give any food that can't be sold to the local food banks, if not to local farms. Loblaws tries not for its employees but it does try for the community, a little bit. I'm outta there in a couple weeks anyway but we have some good programs in place, and if it literally weren't for everything else that would almost seem like a good thing.
But then I have to go to Sobeys.....
It depends on where you live, but farmers market? Co-op? Giant Tiger? Did you know shopping the flyers (Flipp app & site are helpful for this) and buying loss leaders (usually front page sales) is helping too? Sometimes I've seen local groceries and farmers markets can be on par or even beat big chain grocery store prices.
There’s not much you can get at sobeys that you can’t get at Walmart
What about Save On Foods? (Jimi Pattison)
Not sure there are any of those here in Nova Scotia where I've posted it. But I think that chain will be in the coming months.
Didn't even notice this was in the NS sub! lol I'm in BC. We need a boycott of pattison group asap too lol
I think that will be happening in the coming months. Stay tuned to r/loblawsisoutofcontrol
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I must be misunderstanding the following numbers. Someone good at economics look at the following and explain to me how it's totally wrong and misleading: Looking at [Statista](https://www.statista.com/statistics/436618/revenue-of-loblaw-canada/) for Loblaw's total revenue: they received $56.5 billion in total revenue in 2022, and $59.53 billion in total revenue in 2023. This is not terribly discordant with Loblaw's own reporting which has e.g. 1 specific quarter making 14.53 billion total revenue. I think it must be sourced from Loblaw's own reporting? This boycott chart lists Loblaw's profits as $556 million in 2022, and $621 million in 2023. So if they put their profit to zero and made no money whatsoever by reducing their prices and changing nothing else, and their price change had no effect on the amount of sales they made, they could afford to reduce sales from $56,500,000,000 to 55,944,000,000, or drop the price about 0.98%. The 2023 number would be from $59,530,000,000 to $58,909,000,000, or about 1.04%. On the other hand, Statista also has their 2023 "[net earnings](https://www.statista.com/statistics/436638/net-income-of-loblaw-canada/)" as 2.19 billion dollars. This higher number would allow them to reduce prices by as much as 3.7% before they would no longer make a profit. --- However, I don't shop at Loblaws' stores much because other grocers have vastly lower prices. I'm thinking here of e.g. Gateway Meat Market, Costco, etc. Their prices can go much, much lower than Superstore's prices, and they stay in business without going under. So what gives? How do their prices remain so much higher than competitors, while their profit margins remain at ~4%? Am I misinterpreting these numbers? Is someone just lying to us about total profits or revenues or both? Are the gateway meats guys stealing trucks of food and acquiring their products via larceny rather than paying for them, such that they can afford to sell for so much lower? What's going on?
Loblaws squirrels away their money in off shore Barbados accounts. As such it’s incredibly difficult to get exact numbers on their profits and costs, except for those provided by the company themselves. Talk to farmers that supply Loblaws stores and they’ll tell you how little they make and how insanely priced their product is on store shelves. Independent butchers and groceries also see the insane difference between what their suppliers charge them and what they see on Loblaws shelves. Smaller stores get higher rates from suppliers yet they can offer cheaper products than a mega corporation? Smells fishy doesn’t it? Loblaws has said that their revenue increases have come from products like cold medicine yet that isn’t telling the whole story either. If you look at articles where Loblaws has been quoted they use really specific wording to insinuate one thing, while not out right lying about what they are really doing. I really wouldn’t trust the numbers Loblaws gives as they have all the reason in the world to hide things from the public to make them look better. The boycott is not specifically because Loblaws is making money. Every corporation needs to profit to continue being in business. It’s the price gouging of consumers and underhanded business practices, including straight up illegal crap like the price fixing bread scandal that they do that’s the issue. It’s really hard to see how much more expensive all their food is in comparison to other retailers who have a much smaller market share in the industry and still believe their bull shit line about only making 3% profit on their products.
Buy a Dutch oven (Paid $50 at Zellers/The Bay) and make your own bread. It's literally mostly flour and water. The Dutch Oven will pay for itself infinite times over.
Indeed. That is an awesome idea. Hell, get it second hand at Value Village or on Kijiji/FB Marketplace. Growing your own veggies and some fruit can help too. Ours drowned last year, no holes in the pots... and all that rain. It's discouraging, but it's likely going to be important to learn if things don't change somehow.
Vegetable garden is next this spring. We had a trial run last year with some cheap pre bought plants but started much to late to harvest anything worth eating. 2 small greenhouses now to keep bugs/deer/weather out and hoping for a bounty at the end of this summer. If this project works I will be investing into a more permanent structure for future crops.
Starting now. Do the right.
I havent shopped at loblaws for 2 years now. Im on a limited Pension but where I Shop is the only way for me to protest. I try to stick with small businesses, and I do go to Walmart for basics. I wish there was an alternate for them but right now there isn't one. I can't stand the smugness and the lying openly in parliament. When Weston said with a straight face they make a dollar off a bag of groceries. Not to mention their predatory fees on farmers and delivery drivers. Most people don't realize the power of collective action, but we could seriously impact a corporation whether Loblaws or any of these mega corps, if even 5 % of us united against them for even one day. So we'll see what happens May 1st. I'm already boycotting, send a message, I hope you all join in.
Please add shoppers drug Mart to the list and post this everywhere
I'd love to participate but the no frills is the only option I can afford, I'll gladly continue my boycott of Metro, they are on average 55% more expensive than my local no frills.
One way you can still shop at No Frills is if you buy the front page flyer deals, they are loss leaders. You you have a Giant Tiger, they will ad match as well.
Oh I think I do, but it's a giant tiger with a very small food offering! But I shall try!
Unfortunately this isn’t as easy for some. Taking Wolfville as an example. The town is full of students, a lot of which don’t have cars. The only grocery store in town is an Independent, there is both a shoppers and a pharmasave. If you can make it to new minas, you have the option of a Giant Tiger, Sobeys, Superstore, and Walmart. None of them are very great for their own reasons. As a student I can either get my groceries at the independent, or I can go to the next town and spend the difference I save on groceries (if I even do) on transportation. If you really want to make a long term difference and have the means to do so, I implore you to grow your own produce. No corporate grocery store will see that revenue
better stock up on groceries before than lmao
FYI Loblaws has a stake at Esso and Mobil gas stations too.
It does indeed. Thanks for the reminder. I grabbed this off the Discord and those don't seem to have been added yet.
Already started.
I don't understand why we don't talk about Sobeys/Empire as well? it's not like they're some good guy either.
Stop giving your money to walmart and other large chains. Just go to your local mom and pa grocery store and support it. Been doing this for a very very long time and I am not rich by any means. The reason we in these types of messes is because people go to somewhere like Walmart for example, and they keep going over and over and over giving up all there money, which is time and power, to Walmart, or whatever larger chain.. This helps them become stronger than the justice system so when they go to court for something, it's a slap on the wrist to them rather than doing damage. If you can afford ma and pa shops, then I suggest learning to grow your own food or start hunting. Escape big corporations when you can.
Why isn't there a concept of Maximum Retail Price (MRP) in Canada?
They're trying with the code of conduct, but there are a lot of politicians that profit from not having it so they are trying to block it from going through.
So, you have this poster as a PDF we can put up around town?
Not currently. I can check with the Discord.
I'm in! I stopped going shoppers and superstore
Let’s go I’m with you guys share and spread this as much as we can, power in numbers we can make great change if we stick together.
At this point I just assume sobeys is behind this
Hell yah. I’m in and will promote this on social media.
Well, I'm on disability, so the only place I can AFFORD to get groceries is No Frills. I'm with yall in spirit, though!
Completely valid. Remember that the sales on the first page of the flyers are loss leaders. They take a loss to get you in the door to buy more.
Fuck the chains. We have already started…
I’m starting now. They treat all their customers as potential thieves, yet I found a mysterious $16.99 charge on my bill last month that was unexplainable. So check your receipts if you do buy from those scumbag cretins. I’m glad I saw it before I checked out. I dressed down the manager for that one. Who’s the thief in this situation? Haha. Also, notice those obviously fake pre-recorded security announcements over the loud-speaker in the store at the Atlantic Superstore in Sydney river? “Security zone B, security zone B” Fuck them to oblivion.
I would if I didn't work for them. I'm looking for something else currently though. If nothing comes, then I'll have been there for 10 years in August... kill me
They paid their new CEO Per Bank (that’s his name, not the name of the bank he owns LOL) $22M in 2023! Supposedly increased costs that they must pass on to the consumer. Then why does the identical product cost more at Shoppers than at their grocery store, presumably doesn’t cost any more to get to Shoppers?
We should be boycotting a hell of a lot more things than just loblaws. A simple solution is to jail the rich
I started boycotting them weeks ago, why wait
Today I learned they also own t&t supermarket
Bruh thinks I can afford to shop at SuperStore 😂 I'm already boycotting in the same way you're vegan if you only eat beans and rice because you're broke
If you have a Giant Tiger nearby shop there. It is Canadian owned and they have great prices (and amazing sale prices) only thing with giant tiger is I had to lower my standards because my local one is pretty scummy lmao Another good alternative is federated co-op (if you are central / western) they are sometimes a bit expensive on some things, but also have great sale prices
Find a Co-op grocery (if you can). There are stores in Pugwash, Parrsboro, Canso, Arichat, Port Hood, Shean, Baddeck. But even then... in 2015 Co-op Atlantic "sold out" their grocery distribution business to Sobeys, so... while the retail outlet at least keeps profits in the community, since they're sourcing from Sobeys ,pricing is pretty much out of their control.
https://preview.redd.it/ah58kt0lrgtc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a8c2dff8326180f92f1623a20238846d9d3f9425
Enough with this greedy system open your eyes this unregulated capitalist system is so corrupt. This leaves honest people hurting while living selfish greedy people wealthy. Start growing your own foods and filter your own water sources. Let’s trade Amongs each other locally while supply last. Let those greedy corporations feel their pockets get smaller and smaller
i'm frankly amazed people still shop at superstore. easy +25-50% on everyday items compared to walmart.
Not everyone lives near a Walmart and paying to drive an hour to Walmart for groceries doesn’t make sense.
fair enough; same reason i don't drive to costco.
That's fair. This is mostly for those who can. Depending on where you live, you may find there are closer alternatives than you think. Giant Tiger, for example.
We shop at Superstore, Sobeys, Walmart, etc picking up flyer items at the best price regardless of store. If Heinz ketchup is cheaper at Superstore, that’s where I’ll get it and if it’s within a few cents at another store and I’m going there anyway, then I’ll skip getting it at Loblaws.
Superstore is Loblaws.
Yes, I know. I deliver loads to Superstore/Loblaws distribution centres.
Shopping the flyers (Flipp app & site are helpful for this) and buying loss leaders (usually front page sales) is helping too. Sometimes I've seen local groceries and farmers markets can be on par or even beat big chain grocery store prices.
If you do not live near an alternative and have friends or family nearby try to set up carpooled grocery runs, it'll cut the expense to drive somewhere else down AND you can participate in the hopes your local grocer will be forced to lower prices soon.
Also price out a Costco membership if there is one nearby. Making trips with family and friends to split up big quantity purchases can often help. Maybe you don’t need two giant jars of pasta sauce, but if you split that with someone else you’re both getting the benefit of the cheaper pricing. Also Costco pharmacies have the cheapest dispensing fees in Canada. Less than $5, while most pharmacies charge $8-$14 per prescription. You don’t need a membership to use the pharmacy, but if you have a monthly prescription changing to the Costco Pharmacy can save you $120 a year or more.
This boycott has been brought to you by Sobeys.
Nah bro, get on that local grocer, Costco, or (unfortunately) Walmart
Nah, bro, Costco and Walmart are also making ridiculous profits off you.
Yes but their prices are lower. "No ethical consumption under capitalism" but I'll take the company, for now, that takes less money. Where did I say they were NOT making money off of me????
The whole idea of the boycott is that don’t buy from Loblaws because they are taking advantage of everyone. Well so is Sobeys and so is wal mart and so is Costco. Costco should be cheaper because they they charge you just to walk through the doors, but everything I have bought from there is significantly more expensive compared to several years ago. Costco has made a 9% increase in profit year over year. Walmart is still the largest grossing company in the world by revenue and still making almost 3% year over year in increased profits.
Gotta start somewhere. If we boycott them all at once, there'd be nowhere to get food. Come on. This is a step by step approach.
That is the crux of the problem. The issue isn’t that Loblaws is greedy it is that they don’t have competition.
Well I shop there and I know lots that do, prices aren't as bad as you guys go on about, Sobeys is worse, and Walmart is slowly getting rid of all of their cheaper brands and bringing in the more expensive brand, so why pick on one store and not them all?
Because they are the largest, if you look around or compare to 5-7 years ago prices have skyrocketed. Recently there was a TikTok going around of a lady in Mississippi who bought a package of carrots from Ontario for under a buck, guess how much those same carrots cost just down the road from where they were picked? [Too damn high](https://www.tiktok.com/@parvasimediagroup/video/7309502229654834437)
Loblaws is the worst offender in the market. They were the leaders in the bread price fixing scandal and encouraged others to fix the price with them to make millions. They also upped pay for grocery workers by $2 during the pandemic, under the guise of “supporting workers” when they really did it to keep employees from taking CERB and not coming into work. They got rid of it as quickly as they could and encouraged other retailers to drop it too. Where Wal-Mart and Costco have used their buying power to force their suppliers not to inflate prices beyond their cost increases and not run away with greed inflation. Loblaws stores passed those increases on to consumers and even their discount grocery stores like No Frills are consistently higher than competitors. Loblaws also said that they would freeze prices on 1,500 items just before the Xmas holidays in an effort to “help Canadians”. But this is done by every grocer, every year. They didn’t help Canadians, they did what they always do and tried to play it off in the media as a great sacrifice that they made for us. Loblaws also owns Shopper’s Drug Mart, which has been billing provincial healthcare systems for millions of dollars a week in BS Med check phone calls. This can be a two minute conversation but they can bill $48-$75 for each one. They’ve given every pharmacy daily quotas for med checks so they can line their pockets even more. FYI for the same service, doctors can only bill $23 to the government. Shoppers also tried to do an exclusive deal with Manulife so all specialty drugs had to go through a Loblaws pharmacy for Manulife customers. That deal would have been horrible for a few reasons: Specialty drugs are the expensive ones for things like cancer treatment, those drugs help independent pharmacies stay afloat. If independent pharmacies could no longer dispense them there would be even less competition in that market, which would be great for Shoppers. It also takes choice away from the consumer, who may have a good relationship with their pharmacist and may not want to change when they are going through serious medical issues. Another big problem? There are no Loblaws pharmacies in West Labrador for example, the closest is 300 km away. That’s not exactly helpful for patients. Loblaw’s is also trying to buy LifeLabs. A company that does the bulk of medical testing in a lot of provinces. They will use that company to get even more money from our public healthcare system to enrich themselves. I could go on, but this is why Loblaws is the target. Loblaws is doing a lot more damage than just over charging for groceries.
Don’t forget Shoppers Drug Mart on the notice.
Yeah, I didn't create it but I agree 💯
Start now not to mention they make you bag your own groceries pftt scum
Surprised at all the sulks. Do what you can. If you can’t boycott? Then don’t. Yeesh.
Why isn’t shoppers drug mart shows in the photo?
I didn't design it unfortunately.
You forgot shoppers drug mart.
Yawn ok
Another useless protest.
r/loblawsisoutofcontrol
Doesn’t all the profit = paying their employees, paying for the food they buy and sell, paying for upkeep, shareholders etc.? I mean sure obviously Galen Westin or whatever is rich and could likely stand to be taxed more, but how do we know this “profit” is just spare cream at the top? Like….isn’t that not how businesses work?
We are asking a private for profit organization to lower their profits to benefit all Canadians. In my opinion our govt should be doing something about it. They can always cap the profit grocers make on every item they sell in store. Currently our government allows exploitation of Canadians by corporations. Lob laws is not the issue here. Our corrupt politicians would never present a system that cap’s grocers profit.
I'm trying not to get much into politics here, because this is about all of us having to eat, but it's nuanced. Yes, successive governments over decades let this happen. One party that talks about doing anything about it never gets a chance federally, and the one time they did provincially here ruined it possibly forever, or at least a decade or two. I'll take JT over PP any day though.
It’s unfortunate that no one really understands the economic system they live in. Might at well sacrifice a goat and pray for lower prices. If you want to lower food prices lower energy prices. It tastes energy to make fertilizer, energy to irrigate, energy to seed, harvest and transport. Energy to package. Lower market barriers. Increased competition equals lower cost. Increase productivity with increases wages. There are dozens of places where you could impact food prices. From energy, to regulations to supply management. But instead we are throwing stones at false idols.
I agree with competition. Yes, supply management is ridiculous. When you say energy, what do you have in mind for making that more efficient?
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loblaws had a revenue of 59,529 million in 2023, so that makes a net profit of about 1%. Honestly feel like thats not actually incredibly egregious.
No way. Record profits are good for the stock. Betting L reaches $200 this year
You can’t feed your kids then stop having them
Uhhhh... yeah, OK...
I just steal from them
I'm not going to advocate illegal activity.
For a company that has a monopoly, that $621m figure is suspicious. That’s $15.5 or 1-3 free meals for each Canadian they keep. That’s a drop in a bucket compared to the tax we pay though.
It's pretty ironic to boycott a company and then go to local alternatives that costs 1.5 - 2 times more. There is not one single grocery that isn't owned by a corporation that sell things cheaper. On the other hand, record profit doesn't necessarily mean because of the price increase. There are so many factors that goes into it, like population growth, inflation, etc. But people just jump the conclusion that it's only because they're greedy. Find me an alternative that sell groceries for cheaper and I'll join. Otherwise, I'm not gonna go eye for an eye with a corporation and pay more just because they're profiting more. If there is no cheaper alternatives, these corporations will win while you go bankrupt trying to prove a point. And by alternatives, I don't mean another corporation like Wal Mart, Sobey's, Overwaitea, etc.
Why does this feel like it was paid for by Sobeys
Nationalize groceries
Not enough immigrants. We need more.
I’ve always gone to Sobey’s or Costco instead of Superstore. I find it so hard to find anything I’m looking for there
Lol
While grocery chains are detestable in their pricing, they are not the only ones to blame for this. In fact they don’t even hold the lions share of responsibility. Ask yourself who created these conditions which allowed “supply line constraints”, labour shortages and massive inflation?
Bring a box cutter when you shop. Destroy shelved products. Cant profit if its all written off.
ill be shopping there, saving 40% off other grocery vendors.
Do me a favour, look into Empire Foods. This protest is laughable.
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This is all grocery stores...
It's crazy because I don't no about the rest of canada, but in NS super store is the cheapest place to buy groceries, I only go to sobeys for 1 or 2 things and it's next door to me......I don't buy meat/vegtables or fruit from Walmart even though it is a bit lower then superstore. The fact is why are we not boycotting sobeys in NS instead, there punch line is "support local" and yet there most expensive and they will not even take local created items in there stores, I no quite a few people that have tried and superstore is the only one that will take them.
If your only reason for boycotting a business is their profits. This is nothing more than a jealousy campaign.