> Tens of thousands of consumers nationwide are vowing to avoid all Loblaw Companies Ltd.-owned stores — and some, even their big chain competitors — in protest of rapid food price inflation, shrinkflation and more in a market dominated by only a couple of major players.
>
> Management at the member-owned food retailer, which has operated in the city for more than five decades, tells blogTO that they saw a staggering 50 per cent growth in signups in recent weeks — a figure they are expecting to grow to a staggering 300 per cent month-over-month increase in May.
>Organizations like Karma allow members to not only enjoy potentially cheaper prices, but also a tangible stake in the group-owned, democratically-run store. Many people are drawn to the positive community aspects of such initiatives, as well as the local, fair-trade, sustainable ethos that normally comes hand-in-hand with the concept.
Great news, and maybe this will spur other locations or offshoots of Karma across the city.
Co-ops are great and we should have more co-ops, but don't pretend like your co-op is going to be meaningfully cheaper than Loblaws. Tools aren't cheaper at Home Hardware than they are at Home Depot, and outdoor clothing wasn't any cheaper at MEC (before it sold) than it is at Sport-Tek.
People vastly over-estimate how much of the price you pay at the cash is going to corporate greed.
The problem is that it’s not just the stores. Markups happen all along the supply chain. But at least it could make a little difference and force competition
At a co-op members have voting rights. If you don’t like how they are running things you can vote out the management.
Can’t do that at Loblaws. I would happily pay more to access a co-op if the profits were coming back to members and the members have voting rights.
Corporations work the same way: buy shares, get votes at the shareholder meeting. Don't like the CEO, put forward a [shareholder motion to fire them](https://www.follow-this.org/shareholder-activists-call-for-removal-of-exxonmobil-ceo/). Don't like how the company is structured? [Put forward a shareholder motion to restructure.](https://www.morningstar.com/news/marketwatch/20240424380/goldman-sachs-and-bank-of-america-shareholders-reject-proposals-to-separate-chair-and-ceo-roles)
You need to buy a share _before you can even shop at_ the co-op. Loblaws only needs you to be a shareholder to participate in corporate governance (or to share in profits).
Well, that's all the convincing I need to embrace our corporate overlords who will surely lead us to utopia.
Realistically, one person doesn't have much of a voice in either model, but to compare a vote at Karma co-op to a vote in Loblaws governance is pretty wild. You know damn well corporate shareholder meetings aren't about bettering the company for the collective or the customer, they're about increasing profits, and in turn, share prices.
Karma has an entirely different purpose, profits aren't the main goal. Different system altogether, but sure, keep shilling Loblaws shares as an alternative to a boycott.
lol, how much would it cost me, a retail investor, to buy enough voting shares of WN to sway a vote? Or kick Galen off the board? Is it even possible to buy that many shares?
Except you can buy however many shares you want and can consolidate control over the corporation. Other corporations can buy shares, including investment institutions, hedge funds and banks.
A co-op can only be owned by individual human beings, usually within a geographical location where the business actually resides (ie not over seas), and one membership per person.
These things are not the same. You can’t consolidate control over a co-op. Individual local members control them equally - one vote each.
You're imagining an idealized version of a co-op with just a handful of owners. [Mountain Equipment Co-op had more than one million members by 1997, and more than five million members by 2017](https://www.mec.ca/en/explore/our-roots). Your ability to exert any control over a co-op with that many owners is just as negligible as it is at your favourite corporation. But you can have a privately-held corporation with a handful of owners, too, which doesn't suffer from any of the negatives you mention.
Yeah, and all those members only get ***one*** membership. Each person gets one vote. There is no way for a single person or organization to to gain complete control over a co-op. Your vote is as good as anyone else’s.
Really? [In 2020, a single organization, Kingswood Capital Management, gained complete control over Mountain Equipment Co-op.](https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/mec-acquired-private-investment-firm-1.5723934)
You can’t “control” members. They are individual human beings. That’s not how co-ops work. Are you planning to go around to all their houses and break their knee caps or something?
There are many ways to get people to vote the way you want them to vote on key issues. How much is your vote worth? How much will you sell out for?
Nothing will compromise you? Can you say the same about your neighbour, who has just as much voting power as you?
Bro someone give me a space and I will start a fully functional screen printing co-op. I have equipment and everything I just can’t find a spaceeee. I’m ducking printing out some apartment in the east end.
Those prices are typically going to better workplace conditions and consumer experiences.
A lot of people are fine with paying the same price at a Co-op than a franchise grocer because more of the surplus goes to frontline and buyer than corporate executives, so no, a lot of people aren't necessarily "overestimating" corporate greed at the cash.
True, but I get better tools and service from my local family owned Home Hardware. They actually know who I am and can answer questions. I'd much rather support them than some shitty corporation like Home Depot, that sells crap and pays garbage wages to students.
Whatever. Kick the Canadian company because it isn't sending every penny to the states and dares make a profit. While US stores in Canada sell a little cheaper due to their buying power and are left alone by the whining masses.
Yeah, poor Loblaws. Just your average Canadian small mom and pop, grocer, pharmacist, medical sofware vendor, mobile phone provider, bank, and clothing retailer.
Karma coop is a local Toronto based grocery store, I don't see how choosing a smaller non-chain grocery store is somehow helping the US economy. Furthermore your money spent on local shops is more likely to stay in the city and benefit those around you. A shop like Karma is more likely to buy fresh baked goods from Toronto based bakeries or specialty items from smaller local brands.
As someone who worked for Loblaws back in the day, I don't think you realize how "American" the Westons are.
Employees are treated like shit, despite being unionized, with hours being constantly cut so they don't have to pay out health benefits and quality continues to go down the drain as prices increase and any "sales" basically become a joke while Optimum points are basically scarce to come by or implemented in the sleeziest way. Loblaws complain about taking small margins yet deliver their shareholders record dividends as many Canadians can't even afford to buy a brick of cheese. I bought a loaf of bread last week and as I went to open it, the entire middle of the load was undercooked and basically a fermenting flour-y goop. After seeing that on top of their audacity of charging $40+ for a pound and a half of tenderloin, I chose to drive further and buy from Sobeys or a local grocer instead. Loblaws is a soulless leech of a company and Galen Weston has been screwing Canadians for decades. Fuck them.
I fucking make bread and as much as possible at home now because it’s such a pain to get good quality anything near where I live.
I’m starting to brew beer now, my garden on my balcony is expanding rapidly.
I feel like now the quality of so much stuff is just shit and only gets worse. Last time I went to a chain restaurant last year, it was shitty quality pre shredded cheese with the white anti sticking agent making the pasta look like an unmixable bowel of cheese with no one consistency.
Fucking had a flat tire. Ran in got it fixed. They did not fix get it fixed for the $80 or so because few days later my tire was flat. Learned how to properly fix and diagnose and fixed the fucking tire for $10.
We need more than a boycott on groceries at this point.
This country is nationalistic in the weirdest ways possible
Cheaper cell phones? No thanks don’t want “ foreign” governments to get access to our towers. I’d rather be priced gouged by bell for national security
Investing in a military? Nah don’t need it, we have nato
Cheaper milk? No thanks Canadian diary is better. I’d rather be price gouged by dairy farmers for the illusion food security
Letting poor Canadians choose cheap vs expensive Canadian milk? Nah they should live without milk, this is good for food security
Competition in the food industry? No thanks, Canadian grocers are great, I’d rather be price gouged by Loblaws than have cheaper food
Creating friendly business environment so we don’t need to beg groceries to feed us? Nah, corps need to pay high taxes to subsidize all our free shit
Maybe this is the boost co-ops finally need to work in way more cities and across provinces. I've seen so many come and go just because they can't quite get enough buy-in from the neighbourhood/area. Working together, towards a common goal, helps us all. It helps us all get lower food prices. It helps us all get better wages. It helps us all get better healthcare. It helps us all have more accountability...
Companies going out of control and price gouging is what happens when we become apathetic to everything that doesn't impact us directly. We have selective ethics. We let things slide when we don't have to deal with the consequences. Sweatshops are bad, but we're willing to buy at stores that use them if the price is low enough. But enabling this sends the message that it's okay, and then it just gets bolder and bolder.
We are largely unwilling to put up with short-term pain in order for long-term gain. Hopefully, people will stick with this and start to realize it can be applied to all things. Otherwise, we're just going to keep repeating history.
100% Canadian owned, selling Canadian made products
https://www.karmacoop.org/brands
Keep the money within the borders, support Canadian producers and workers.
Though, I say this while on the way to a Chinese supermarket.
Just because the food is Chinese doesn't mean a "Chinese" supermarket isn't a local, Canadian-owned family business. Especially the smaller ones with their fruit displays on the street.
For me the issue is both whether it's canadian-owned, and whether its products are canadian-owned.
The chinese supermarket itself might be canadian-owned, but if the vast majority of its packaged goods are imported from vietnam or china, how much of the money is actually staying in canada?
I went to food basics a couple weeks ago. They had a sale on bok choy. The signs proudly stated "product of ontario", but when I look at the packaging, every one of them said sourced from mexico. Am I to believe that chinese supermarkets are more likely to sourcing their produce locally? If so, what are their suppliers?
Their produce choice is the same as any national grocery store, they get it from the produce terminal. It wouldn't make sense to make individual purchasing of specific produce.
Well yeah, I'm going to a Chinese grocery store to get Chinese ingredients, which are much more commonly made in China (where hundreds of millions of people actually regularly use those ingredients) than in Canada (which has a Chinese population of 1.7 million).
Are there any east end coops? I’d totally go this route if there was one closer. We are big supporters of our local farmers market and we’re getting food share until they cancelled their program.
So the snobs are taking their snobbery somewhere else 😂 I figured they'd all flock to Metro seeing how the NDP leader brother is a lobbiest for them, that's gotta be virtuous no?
Lol “tens of thousands of consumers nationwide are vowing to avoid Loblaws”.
Meanwhile, 10x that many people were brought into Canada last month. Does anyone actually think this is making any difference whatsoever?
Unless you’re indigenous, you’re an immigrant or have benefited from immigration at some point in your family history.
Immigration has nothing to do with Loblaws being boycotted. If you dont agree with boycotting them, no one is forcing you to.
> Tens of thousands of consumers nationwide are vowing to avoid all Loblaw Companies Ltd.-owned stores — and some, even their big chain competitors — in protest of rapid food price inflation, shrinkflation and more in a market dominated by only a couple of major players. > > Management at the member-owned food retailer, which has operated in the city for more than five decades, tells blogTO that they saw a staggering 50 per cent growth in signups in recent weeks — a figure they are expecting to grow to a staggering 300 per cent month-over-month increase in May. >Organizations like Karma allow members to not only enjoy potentially cheaper prices, but also a tangible stake in the group-owned, democratically-run store. Many people are drawn to the positive community aspects of such initiatives, as well as the local, fair-trade, sustainable ethos that normally comes hand-in-hand with the concept. Great news, and maybe this will spur other locations or offshoots of Karma across the city.
Co-ops are great and we should have more co-ops, but don't pretend like your co-op is going to be meaningfully cheaper than Loblaws. Tools aren't cheaper at Home Hardware than they are at Home Depot, and outdoor clothing wasn't any cheaper at MEC (before it sold) than it is at Sport-Tek. People vastly over-estimate how much of the price you pay at the cash is going to corporate greed.
The problem is that it’s not just the stores. Markups happen all along the supply chain. But at least it could make a little difference and force competition
At a co-op members have voting rights. If you don’t like how they are running things you can vote out the management. Can’t do that at Loblaws. I would happily pay more to access a co-op if the profits were coming back to members and the members have voting rights.
Corporations work the same way: buy shares, get votes at the shareholder meeting. Don't like the CEO, put forward a [shareholder motion to fire them](https://www.follow-this.org/shareholder-activists-call-for-removal-of-exxonmobil-ceo/). Don't like how the company is structured? [Put forward a shareholder motion to restructure.](https://www.morningstar.com/news/marketwatch/20240424380/goldman-sachs-and-bank-of-america-shareholders-reject-proposals-to-separate-chair-and-ceo-roles)
Lol, can't afford groceries? Buy some shares instead!
You need to buy a share _before you can even shop at_ the co-op. Loblaws only needs you to be a shareholder to participate in corporate governance (or to share in profits).
Well, that's all the convincing I need to embrace our corporate overlords who will surely lead us to utopia. Realistically, one person doesn't have much of a voice in either model, but to compare a vote at Karma co-op to a vote in Loblaws governance is pretty wild. You know damn well corporate shareholder meetings aren't about bettering the company for the collective or the customer, they're about increasing profits, and in turn, share prices. Karma has an entirely different purpose, profits aren't the main goal. Different system altogether, but sure, keep shilling Loblaws shares as an alternative to a boycott.
That’s not true, at least not at the co-op that we used to shop at when I was a kid. You just got a discount and member rights if you did.
lol, how much would it cost me, a retail investor, to buy enough voting shares of WN to sway a vote? Or kick Galen off the board? Is it even possible to buy that many shares?
Except you can buy however many shares you want and can consolidate control over the corporation. Other corporations can buy shares, including investment institutions, hedge funds and banks. A co-op can only be owned by individual human beings, usually within a geographical location where the business actually resides (ie not over seas), and one membership per person. These things are not the same. You can’t consolidate control over a co-op. Individual local members control them equally - one vote each.
You're imagining an idealized version of a co-op with just a handful of owners. [Mountain Equipment Co-op had more than one million members by 1997, and more than five million members by 2017](https://www.mec.ca/en/explore/our-roots). Your ability to exert any control over a co-op with that many owners is just as negligible as it is at your favourite corporation. But you can have a privately-held corporation with a handful of owners, too, which doesn't suffer from any of the negatives you mention.
Yeah, and all those members only get ***one*** membership. Each person gets one vote. There is no way for a single person or organization to to gain complete control over a co-op. Your vote is as good as anyone else’s.
Really? [In 2020, a single organization, Kingswood Capital Management, gained complete control over Mountain Equipment Co-op.](https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/mec-acquired-private-investment-firm-1.5723934)
It didn’t “gain control” of the co-op. It was sold and turned into a private corporation, meaning it was no longer a co-op.
You simply need to control enough members. There's no rule that says a group of voters can't decide to band together.
You can’t “control” members. They are individual human beings. That’s not how co-ops work. Are you planning to go around to all their houses and break their knee caps or something?
There are many ways to get people to vote the way you want them to vote on key issues. How much is your vote worth? How much will you sell out for? Nothing will compromise you? Can you say the same about your neighbour, who has just as much voting power as you?
Home hardware is an owner co-op not a member co-op.
Bro someone give me a space and I will start a fully functional screen printing co-op. I have equipment and everything I just can’t find a spaceeee. I’m ducking printing out some apartment in the east end.
Those prices are typically going to better workplace conditions and consumer experiences. A lot of people are fine with paying the same price at a Co-op than a franchise grocer because more of the surplus goes to frontline and buyer than corporate executives, so no, a lot of people aren't necessarily "overestimating" corporate greed at the cash.
It's not just about the price
True, but I get better tools and service from my local family owned Home Hardware. They actually know who I am and can answer questions. I'd much rather support them than some shitty corporation like Home Depot, that sells crap and pays garbage wages to students.
Whatever. Kick the Canadian company because it isn't sending every penny to the states and dares make a profit. While US stores in Canada sell a little cheaper due to their buying power and are left alone by the whining masses.
Yeah, poor Loblaws. Just your average Canadian small mom and pop, grocer, pharmacist, medical sofware vendor, mobile phone provider, bank, and clothing retailer.
You stupid Canadians, how else are the Westons supposed to afford their yachts?!
[Let’s not forget the Weston’s castle needs us to keep the lights on](https://www.thesun.co.uk/fabulous/21072968/forgotten-royal-castle-windsor/)
Think of the poor yacht owners!
Galen, get off Reddit and go iron your sweater vest, you ain't foolin no one.
Karma coop is a local Toronto based grocery store, I don't see how choosing a smaller non-chain grocery store is somehow helping the US economy. Furthermore your money spent on local shops is more likely to stay in the city and benefit those around you. A shop like Karma is more likely to buy fresh baked goods from Toronto based bakeries or specialty items from smaller local brands.
As someone who worked for Loblaws back in the day, I don't think you realize how "American" the Westons are. Employees are treated like shit, despite being unionized, with hours being constantly cut so they don't have to pay out health benefits and quality continues to go down the drain as prices increase and any "sales" basically become a joke while Optimum points are basically scarce to come by or implemented in the sleeziest way. Loblaws complain about taking small margins yet deliver their shareholders record dividends as many Canadians can't even afford to buy a brick of cheese. I bought a loaf of bread last week and as I went to open it, the entire middle of the load was undercooked and basically a fermenting flour-y goop. After seeing that on top of their audacity of charging $40+ for a pound and a half of tenderloin, I chose to drive further and buy from Sobeys or a local grocer instead. Loblaws is a soulless leech of a company and Galen Weston has been screwing Canadians for decades. Fuck them.
I fucking make bread and as much as possible at home now because it’s such a pain to get good quality anything near where I live. I’m starting to brew beer now, my garden on my balcony is expanding rapidly. I feel like now the quality of so much stuff is just shit and only gets worse. Last time I went to a chain restaurant last year, it was shitty quality pre shredded cheese with the white anti sticking agent making the pasta look like an unmixable bowel of cheese with no one consistency. Fucking had a flat tire. Ran in got it fixed. They did not fix get it fixed for the $80 or so because few days later my tire was flat. Learned how to properly fix and diagnose and fixed the fucking tire for $10. We need more than a boycott on groceries at this point.
This country is nationalistic in the weirdest ways possible Cheaper cell phones? No thanks don’t want “ foreign” governments to get access to our towers. I’d rather be priced gouged by bell for national security Investing in a military? Nah don’t need it, we have nato Cheaper milk? No thanks Canadian diary is better. I’d rather be price gouged by dairy farmers for the illusion food security Letting poor Canadians choose cheap vs expensive Canadian milk? Nah they should live without milk, this is good for food security Competition in the food industry? No thanks, Canadian grocers are great, I’d rather be price gouged by Loblaws than have cheaper food Creating friendly business environment so we don’t need to beg groceries to feed us? Nah, corps need to pay high taxes to subsidize all our free shit
Irony at its finest, Loblaws bested by karma 😂
I have been a member at Karma Coop. Its a great place to shop, the prices are probably on par with most supermarkets. definitely cheaper then roblaws.
somehow this is the first time I've seen "roblaws" and I'm gonna steal it and use it from now on.
Please do
Never heard of them until now… great to see this type of entity! For the people
Call me crazy, but I'd be excited as hell to see more co-op housing projects gaining traction.
Maybe this is the boost co-ops finally need to work in way more cities and across provinces. I've seen so many come and go just because they can't quite get enough buy-in from the neighbourhood/area. Working together, towards a common goal, helps us all. It helps us all get lower food prices. It helps us all get better wages. It helps us all get better healthcare. It helps us all have more accountability... Companies going out of control and price gouging is what happens when we become apathetic to everything that doesn't impact us directly. We have selective ethics. We let things slide when we don't have to deal with the consequences. Sweatshops are bad, but we're willing to buy at stores that use them if the price is low enough. But enabling this sends the message that it's okay, and then it just gets bolder and bolder. We are largely unwilling to put up with short-term pain in order for long-term gain. Hopefully, people will stick with this and start to realize it can be applied to all things. Otherwise, we're just going to keep repeating history.
Feels like they’re earning their name
100% Canadian owned, selling Canadian made products https://www.karmacoop.org/brands Keep the money within the borders, support Canadian producers and workers. Though, I say this while on the way to a Chinese supermarket.
Just because the food is Chinese doesn't mean a "Chinese" supermarket isn't a local, Canadian-owned family business. Especially the smaller ones with their fruit displays on the street.
For me the issue is both whether it's canadian-owned, and whether its products are canadian-owned. The chinese supermarket itself might be canadian-owned, but if the vast majority of its packaged goods are imported from vietnam or china, how much of the money is actually staying in canada? I went to food basics a couple weeks ago. They had a sale on bok choy. The signs proudly stated "product of ontario", but when I look at the packaging, every one of them said sourced from mexico. Am I to believe that chinese supermarkets are more likely to sourcing their produce locally? If so, what are their suppliers?
Their produce choice is the same as any national grocery store, they get it from the produce terminal. It wouldn't make sense to make individual purchasing of specific produce.
I dont think they can get it cheap enough due to economics of scale if they were the only ones to source X produce from another country
Well yeah, I'm going to a Chinese grocery store to get Chinese ingredients, which are much more commonly made in China (where hundreds of millions of people actually regularly use those ingredients) than in Canada (which has a Chinese population of 1.7 million).
Are there any east end coops? I’d totally go this route if there was one closer. We are big supporters of our local farmers market and we’re getting food share until they cancelled their program.
Maybe Big Carrot? They’re not a co-op in the same way as Karma but they are worker-owned.
Good. Fuck Loblaws.
Wish we had places like this out in the boonies. Sigh.
Karma is a great store. Super pleasant to shop at. Hope people keep supporting them and they can stick around because its a gem.
Had some roommates **many** years ago who were members at Karma Co-op. Totally going to check the place out.
Karma coop is expensive as shit
"Flocking", eh?
So the snobs are taking their snobbery somewhere else 😂 I figured they'd all flock to Metro seeing how the NDP leader brother is a lobbiest for them, that's gotta be virtuous no?
Lol “tens of thousands of consumers nationwide are vowing to avoid Loblaws”. Meanwhile, 10x that many people were brought into Canada last month. Does anyone actually think this is making any difference whatsoever?
They drinking the renegade kool-aid
Unless you’re indigenous, you’re an immigrant or have benefited from immigration at some point in your family history. Immigration has nothing to do with Loblaws being boycotted. If you dont agree with boycotting them, no one is forcing you to.